


What happens in Ay-was anybody's guess

by Sherloki_d



Category: Aywas- site, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, other world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 16:51:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherloki_d/pseuds/Sherloki_d
Summary: This is Task #100 for Aywas Scav: Go to any fanfiction site and post a crossover fanfiction of anything + Aywas. So I decided to do Harry Potter + Aywas as my theme. Saphire #407, team: PsyWhatever.When Draco and Ginny find themselves in an unknown land, what must they do to find their way home and when an unexpected relationship begins to blossom will they even want to go home?  Follow their journey and find out, because... you know you want to!





	1. What happens at Hogwarts...

**Author's Note:**

> These notes are not counted in the word count! This is an Aywas/Harry Potter crossover created for a scav task! Read at your own risk/pleasure(?)

Ginny Weasley is your normal 16 year old girl. She likes to wear makeup and look at boys. Her favorite boy being one Harry Potter. If anyone asked, she would say that she loved the way he looked in a tight black outfit and equally fitting robes. The way he looked at her though was not always with love as she wished it was. In fact, she wasn’t sure he ever HAD looked at her with love. Ron liked to tease her because of her obsession with the “boy-who-lived” since she’d always fawned over him in a rather obvious way since she was 11 and Harry had come into their home. She had made quite the fool of herself and possibly even at that time scared him off. 

“Hey Gin, you wanna go flying?” Neville Longbottom asked, smiling at her in a way that she wished Harry would. She sighed and closed the book she was reading and nodded. “I’d like that.” 

Ginny rushed to her dorms to grab her broom and left a note for Hermione letting her know where she’d gone. Hermione was often busy studying for her O.W.Ls which Ginny was becoming happy that hers were not until next year. She was sure she could do them fine and wasn’t exactly fearful of them. In fact, just the opposite. She was going to be sad when they were over and she had her results, results that would never change no matter what they told her. Would she prove herself to be smart enough to be an auror alongside the love of her life? Or perhaps dumb enough that ALL she’d be good for is being a dumb Quidditch chick. Not that Harry would notice her either way. That probably was the worst part of it for Ginny. All she wanted was Harry to notice her. 

Ginny sighed, picked up her broom and ran down the stairs to Neville who already had his in his hands and was waiting for her. She smiled to him and asked the VERY important question, “Did you steal Ron’s quidditch set so we can play for real?” 

Ron, who was sitting nearby looked up and rolled his eyes at his sister’s question. “No he did not steal them, but he did ask if I wanted to join you both. Harry’s too busy and Hermione is studying…” Ron shivered at the idea of studying for O.W.Ls as if it weren’t something he had to do too. “So I figured I’d join you guys!”

“Think we can bother anyone else to join us and make it a real game?” Ginny asked with much excitement. It was turning into a real game and she was ready to go flying and get Harry out of her mind. Did we mention that Ginny is a 16 year old girl? Her hormones were raging off the charts. 

Ron shrugged. “I think I saw some Slytherins out on the pitch just practicing. They might be willing to join us for the hell of it if we can convince them?” He grimaced as if that was the worst idea in the world but was still willing to try the idea despite everything about it making him sick.

Ginny grinned. “Or bribe them. Nothing would get their attention like a bribe.”

Ron frowned. “Really Gin? With what?” He stood up and grabbed his broom. “Well, nothing we can do sitting here.”

Ginny laughed and followed him with her Cleansweep in tow. It may not be the best broom, but it made her happy. She finally had a broom of her own she could proudly fly on the Gryffindor team with. At their next match, she planned to kick the Hufflepuffs butts and because of that she needed all the practice she could get. Ginny followed her brother as he walked out of the portrait hole and down the stairs. 

As they got out onto the grounds and towards the pitch, they noticed Draco, Crabbe and Goyle flying around, throwing a Quaffle to one another with Draco making sure he threw it as far past his goons as he could. When they began to walk up though Draco growled. “Hell no! We were here first Weasleys and… Longbottom, really?” 

Neville growled and stepped forward but Ginny put a hand on his chest and looked up and Draco. “What, can’t handle a little competition Malfoy? I thought the Slytherins were proud, but then again, if I was you, I wouldn’t be either.” She grinned as Draco’s face went from amusement to anger in all of three seconds flat. 

“Watch it little Weaslette.” Draco warned as he flew down closer. Ron started to step in front of her but she shook her head, stopping him. “Or what Malfoy?” She asked. “Don’t have enough trust in your goons to protect you from three Gryffindors you claim to not fear?”

Draco rolled his eyes as he stopped just in front of her. “You want to go against this Weaslette?” 

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Not really, but it’s not like I have much of a choice if I want on the field, does it?”

Draco smirked. “You want to make a bet little Weaslette?”

“Hmm, that could be fun Malfoy.” She said and noticed a sparkle in his eyes. “You have a bet in mind?” 

“Let’s say the first of us to get to 150 points wins. The winner gets to humiliate one member from the other team in the way of their choosing. The losing team can choose which member gets the punishment.” 

Ginny frowned. This could go very wrong. Did she trust in her ability to beat Malfoy at his own game? She only needed to catch the snitch once after all, right? She nodded. “I accept only so far as I am the target from our team.” 

Ron raised a brow, but said nothing, obviously glad that he didn’t have to be the target of another Malfoy prank. Draco nodded. “I will also agree to be the target for our team.” Draco said much to Ginny’s surprise. She expected him to make his henchmen take the punishment if they lost. She found a new respect for him in that. 

“Let’s to it then.” Ginny said with a grin and mounted her broom as she watched Ron open his chest. He pulled out his Quaffle, cringing slightly as some dust fell from the creases of it. He then grinned at his idea and threw it at Malfoy, who caught it, but then gazed at his robes, noticing the dust all over the front. “Seriously Weasel?” He glared at Ron and threw the ball to his henchmen on the right, Crabbe. 

“Sorry.” Ron mumbled, half regretful and half ashamed. He threw a beater’s bat to Goyle and one to Neville before releasing only one of the bludgers and then finally the Snitch. Both Ginny and Draco watched it fly off before Ron, acting as the interim referee. “Mount your brooms!” He said loudly enough to drive Neville out of his reverie to join in the game. Neville mounted his broom unsteadily with the bat and nodded to Ron as the other 3 landed facing them with a near-contemptuous look that would scare Ginny normally, but she had asked for this… for good or for bad. So why was she so excited at the same time? That look in Draco’s eyes, that go-for-it attitude that she often saw in Harry’s eyes and had fallen for so long ago.

Shit. Ginny was losing it. How the hell was it she was seeing anything good in one Draco Malfoy of all people? She only barely heard Ron’s countdown end at 1 as he released the Snitch and she watched it zoom off towards the other side of the field and then out of view. Lucky for her it seemed like Draco had also missed it as he’d been looking at her, with what on his mind, she did not know. She kicked off the ground and zoomed in a direction only to watch Draco zoom past her, which only confirmed to her that he had NOT seen where the Snitch had gone. She flew higher so she could watch the field and enjoy the scene below her and it seemed like Draco had the same idea as he flew up beside her and started messing with her. “You can barely see to the end of that Ginger nose, how do you expect to see the Snitch Weaslette?”

“Bugger off, ferret.” Draco’s eyes shot daggers as he stared at her. “Don’t! Your damn brother shouldn’t be calling me that. Don’t you start or I may have to stop respecting you.”

“Respecting me?” Ginny laughed at the thought, nearly falling off her broom as she stared at him with her eyes wide.

“Eh, little slips.” Malfoy said and shrugged. “Yes. Weaslette. I respect you. I respect the way you don’t act like a prissy little brat like your brother. You don’t need him to make you shine. You are a badass witch with a sparkling personality.” 

Ginny’s eyes went wider as he spoke. Who was this Draco Malfoy? He is not the type of person to compliment her. She looked down, away from him to watch for the Snitch but also to get her mind on anything else. “I have to have a strong personality to stick out with so many brothers.” She finally responded, hoping that was enough explanation.

“You do that Ginevra. You definitely do that.” Ginny looked up for a moment to see Draco blush. Draco Malfoy blushed while complimenting her? That was a new one! She smiled and leaned over to him for just a moment, placing a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you Malfoy. That made my day.”

Draco smiled. “Glad to help. Now, before the others notice us getting along, you ready to try and kick my ass?” 

Ginny grinned. “Happily.”

Before Ginny knew it her team was at 110 points while Crabbe and Goyle had only managed 70. Draco was now ignoring her with the exception of a few glances her way. She could feel her cheeks heating up each time he did so she attempted to ignore it with all that she could. She didn’t need him as a distraction. Suddenly the flutter of gold passed near the stands and she took off, but obviously Draco had caught sight of it too and the two were side by side zooming towards it. Ginny reached a hand out as soon as they got less than a foot from it. Draco reached over her hand, but at the last second his broom hit hers and she felt the air leave her as she tumbled off of the broom and headed straight towards the bleachers. 

“Ginny!” was the last thing she heard. It was Draco’s voice.


	2. A whole new world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco and Ginny awake in Ay at the infamous standing stones and travel to the mountains

“Ginny?” Ginny opened her eyes and felt a beating in her head as she sat up and looked at Draco. He was holding out a hand to her, which she took and stood up. As she stood up she scanned her surroundings. They were no longer on the Quidditch pitch. She didn’t know where they were. There were rocks surrounding the area and a blue glowing around them. She was in awe at the amount of detail surrounding them. 

“Excuse me.” A young male voice said from the other side of a large rock. “What are the two of you doing inside the standing stones?”

“The standing stones?” Ginny asked, looking around her. Well, there were stones and they were standing, I guess. She looked at Draco, who looked as lost as her. He shrugged. The man behind the voice stepped forward, his wings oozing from his back onto the ground beside him. What was he? Some sort of creature? Centaurs were part horse, part human, right? Perhaps this was some sort of part bird part human hybrid. He rolled his eyes. “Don’t act like you don’t know what the standing stones are little girl. What, are you from the scrublands? A couple of scrubs?”

Ginny raised her eyes. Who the hell was he, calling her a little girl? He didn’t even know her. “I-My name is Ginerva Weasley.” She settled on trying to make the new person comfortable enough to tell them where they were. It didn’t seem to work however as he started to circle them, tutting. “You lot don’t know much, do you? My name is Scion and you lot are making me uncomfortable being in My Standing stones. Perhaps you should get a move on. You obviously don’t belong.”

Draco growled and reached down towards the inside of his robe and Ginny stopped him by grabbing his hand. “What do you think you’re doing? He could be a muggle.” She hissed. His eyes widened as if he hadn’t thought of that possibility. He didn’t remove his hand from hers though. He looked at Scion. “Well, Scion… if you could point us towards London…”

“What’s a London?” Scion asked with curiosity. “Or is that just another one of those too damn many merchants we have around here. Actually, do they have names?” He looked down as if seriously questioning if a person had a name. Ginny found that fact a little odd, but decided to leave it off. He had no clue what London was and that seemed nearly impossible for her. She needed to find someone with a sense of direction and soon! She felt the warmth of Draco’s hand and felt a bit of relief that at least she wasn’t here alone with this weird creature-thing. “Well, if you don’t know where London is, then we must keep moving on our way Scion, sir.”

“Who the fuck are you calling sir little girl? Just Scion or else not at all.” 

“O-ok Scion.” Ginny frowned, she hated being told off, but she was not about to let her anger get the better of her when she didn’t know what the creature in front of her was capable of, except sarcasm, because that much was evident. She kept hold of Draco’s hand, feeling secure with him nearby her. He didn’t seem to mind or he didn’t notice, because he allowed her hand in his to remain there for the time being. “We’ll head on our way. What would be the quickest way to a town who might know where London is?”

He pointed off in two directions, in either direction of himself and she stared at him for a moment for his uselessness and then looked one of the directions at some mountains. They seemed tall, treacherous. But turning to look in the other direction she saw desert and bit her lip. That direction didn’t look any better. Perhaps if she knew how far the closest town was, it would help to decide where to go… but she wasn’t about to ask Scion because he seemed very useless. 

Draco seemed to sense her hesitancy and pulled her hand in a direction which she followed as Scion rolled his eyes, obviously done with them. She felt herself sigh, letting out her frustrations with Scion. Draco was watching her with interest. “You ok?” He asked, curious. She could feel herself beginning to finally realize her situation and it was filling her with dread. She was stuck somewhere she did not know with at least one creature she didn’t know and she didn’t know what she was doing. She looked at him and he watched her with the same awe he had on the Quidditch field and frowned. He saw her as someone who didn’t fear anything, didn’t he? With that thought in mind, it calmed her, even just the slightest, because they needed to move forward. “I-I think so. I just want to find our way back to Hogwarts. And I want to know what happened. Why are we here? Did some sort of curse lead us here?”

Draco frowned. “I don’t know. Last thing I remember we were both reaching for the Snitch and now we’re here.” 

“Same.” Ginny frowned and looked down at their intertwined fingers and pulled away. She didn’t need to make him more uncomfortable than they already were by being here. He frowned slightly, barely noticeable under the circumstances, but allowed her to pull away. They started walking a path filled with rocks that seemed to go upwards into the mountains. After a while Ginny felt like her knees were on fire. These were serious mountains and they weren’t very far up them even! She could still see the standing stones down the path which was pretty clear from her viewpoint. She felt a rock slide beneath her foot and barely managed to keep standing. Draco noticed her falter and put a hand out to catch her in case she fell but seemed relieved when she was able to catch herself. She noticed something in the distance move and considered investigating. However with what she’d already seen of this area of the world, she probably didn’t want to know! Draco sighed audibly and turned around. “I’m starting to feel tired. Think we should take a small break?”

Ginny noticed that everything he said was not to make her feel like she was keeping them back. He’d noticed her own fatigue. He had to. Yet he decided to give her an excuse by saying that he was the one who was tired. She just nodded. “That sounds like a plan.”

She found a flat rock and sat down. Draco sat down next to her and looked into her eyes. “I do wonder where we are. Have you ever heard of a place with part-bird, part-humans? What do we call them?” 

“I’m not sure.” Ginny answered honestly. “It does seem like a really odd place. I feel like it’s nowhere near Hogwarts. I feel like we’d have heard of some creatures like that. It’s possible we were somehow Teleported to America? I wouldn’t even know what kind of creatures they have there. Here?” She questioned herself as she said it. There was a definite possibility she was in America at this very minute! She’d always dreamed of going, so perhaps she’d gotten her wish… even if in some weird way. Could Crabbe or Goyle have something to do with this? “Did Crabbe or Goyle do this?” She asked, cautious because she didn’t want to offend him completely.

“I considered that already.” Draco said, surprising her. “ Honestly, they don’t really have that much magical ability, accidental or otherwise. I’m surprised they got their wands to be honest.” 

Ginny grinned. “Well, I’d probably say nearly the same about Neville, but he has shown some interesting talent, especially accidental. All I know is Ronald couldn’t have done this either.”

“I never questioned that either.” Draco said and winked. “Honestly he seems like the weak link in your family. Everyone else has a ton of power and the mind to use it, but Ron seems like the outcast to me.”

Ginny considered that perspective and raised an eye. She always assumed people thought that of her, but to hear out of Draco’s mouth the same thoughts she often considered made her rethink herself. Ron was always off with Harry, doing whatever Harry wanted or needed or getting injured because Harry had some grand scheme. He stayed in the background and he wasn’t even that good at magic. She wondered, if Harry had met her first and been in the same year, would she be the one doing the crazy adventures with him and Hermione? She’d certainly help more than Ronald. Of course Harry probably only thought of her as the girl who Tom Riddle took advantage of with the diary. And in that she lost a lot of respect from her family, mostly Ron, Charlie and Percy and her friends Neville and Harry. “I dunno. I think sometimes that I am the outcast. I’m stronger than they think I am.”

“I don’t think anyone outside of Gryffindor thinks of you as weak Ginerva. In fact, you’re one of the strongest people I know.” Ginny could feel her cheeks heating and she looked down. She was starting to finally get feeling in her feet again. “Are you ready to go?” She asked, cautiously avoiding the subject because she wasn’t sure if she was reading too much into his words. He seemed caught off guard but caught himself quickly and nodded. “Of course.”

He stood up and walked forward, continuing on the path that they were taking. Suddenly a bird flew down at Ginny and she screamed and moved out of the way as the black and white bird with a red crest of feathers on it’s head swept past her. She knocked into Draco who watched the bird with awe. It was a lot bigger than the birds near where they lived. He whistled and she noticed it land and chirp at Draco as if his whistling meant something to it. He looked at her with a look that said ‘trust me’. So she did. He moved forward, whistling more and crouching down a bit to it’s level. It tilted its head and hopped forward towards him. 

Draco reached out and pet the red tuft of feathers on it’s head and it chirped happily. He smiled a bit and looked at her. “See, it’s friendly.” She nodded mutely. She didn’t know what to think of the bird, but it now had its attention firmly on Draco. “Should we let it lead us? You never know, it might be able to lead us to a town. It would need somewhere it could get food, yeah?” 

Ginny could find no fault in that plan. She nodded and walked over to the bird and placed a hand on its beak. “Think it knows what we’re saying?” 

Draco shrugged. “I don’t know, but if it’s a creature that may have created that Scion-fellow then we might be in good company.” 

The bird ruffled its feathers and began to walk on the path with them. Ginny laughed as it hobbled with them and continued to follow along. What in the world was she getting herself into? Before long the pet stopped and picked up a green bean looking thing and ate it. Ginny looked near where it grabbed it and found a small pile of the beans on a twig-like branch and picked one for each her and Draco. She hoped that if the bird could eat it then they could also. She handed one to Draco who took it and bit in, savoring the flavor. “This tastes like the chili soup my mother used to make when I was young. She gave up cooking when I turned 5 though. I think it became too much for her. She let the houselves continue cooking from then on. I don’t think she expected me to grow up and need to eat.” He stopped suddenly and she raised a brow. He was being very honest with her. 

As they continues along the path, more greenery appeared beside the path. Some of the plants had blue, yellow, red and purple flowers. They were beautiful. She just didn’t know if any of them were safe but she figured she didn’t need to find out. She just needed to keep going. At one point along the path Ginny noticed a small bag with some silver coins on the ground with a blue paw-shaped indentation in the center. There seemed to be thousands in there. They reminded her of knuts, probably worthless, so you needed many of them to buy things. Somebody must have dropped it. “Look what I just found.” She motioned to Draco to stop and look at the bag in her hand. “It looks like someone dropped some coins! That means we’re definitely on the path to somewhere with people!” Draco let out a sigh. “That’s a relief.” 

Ginny nodded and continued to follow the bird. A guy coming from up the path made her feel better about finding a village. “Excuse me sir?” She said to the gentleman with dark hair and a wrap around it that seemed to help keep the sun from him despite his cloak which looked warm enough in itself. He looked at her with wide eyes. “I’m really hungry. Could you find me something to eat?” 

“I-” Ginny frowned. Apparently he wasn’t going to be of much help if he didn’t even know where to get food to eat. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where any food is around here. There was a bush with some beans back that way.” She pointed back the direction they had come from. 

“O-oh.” He frowned, disappointed but nodded. “Thank you!” He quickly took off towards the direction she’d pointed. She shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Well, I was hopeful he could help us.” Draco snorted. “So much for that idea, huh?”

Ginny frowned, but he suddenly grinned so she knew he wasn’t picking on her. “We’ll find this village, I promise.” He grabbed her hand and she didn’t pull away. She needed that comfort for the time being. Until they found a place with people who might know where they were, she was going to freak out… and she really didn’t want to freak out with Draco present. 

As they made their way she was surprised to see a piece of paper on the ground that was torn. It had an “X’ on it that looked like it might belong to a map. X marks the spot, right? She quickly went to grab it but as she touched it, it turned to ashes. So much for the luck she thought she might have. In fact, that luck, or lack thereof was shown once more as a creature with two very long legs and claws at the very end of it’s feet. It was yellow and brown and had two long rounded horns on the top of it’s head. She nearly screamed when the bird that was leading them screamed a loud caw and lifted its leg threateningly and the creature stepped back and then ran off. As it ran it dropped an orange fruit with a bite out of it. Ginny walked forward and grabbed it, offering the fruit to the bird with her. It chirped happily and took it out of her hand with it’s beak, eating it in one bite. Ginny was getting slightly amused. The creature was definitely one she enjoyed watching and being around. She looked at Draco. “Do you think this thing has a name?” 

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know anymore than you.” The way he said it made her feel like an idiot but he quickly recovered it by squeezing her hand. “You think we should name it?” He asked as if reading her mind. She nodded excitedly. Even if it wasn’t a pet, she wouldn’t mind at least familiarizing herself with it for the time it was with them. And who knew, that could be a few more minutes, hours or possibly days. She still wasn’t sure how long they were going to be here and the sun was just starting to settle overhead, marking the midday, so probably around 1500 hours. He grinned at her excitement and nodded. “Well, it’s got a red head like you Weasleys…” Ginny stopped him. “Don’t you dare.” He laughed at her stopping him and bit his lip, getting mischievous. “And I hear you have an affinity for weird names. What is it you call Ron’s owl, Ginevra?” He said her name slowly, every syllable of her name annoying her because her mom couldn’t give her a normal name like she did Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Bill. At least Percy also shared her pain in the name game. 

She decided to give in. “Pigwidgeon.” She finally said, tempted to take her hand back, but deciding not to. She really was getting used to it’s warmth and comfort. And honestly, even with his joking, he wasn’t picking on her in a way to piss her off so much as to calm their situation down a bit and she definitely was grateful for that. He smiled. “As cute as that name is… I kinda like Flufferius.” He looked towards the bird. “What do you think, could you be a Flufferius?” It looked at him with a confused look but trilled nonetheless. Draco grinned and used his free hand to pet it smoothly across it’s red feathered head. 

As they continued walking Draco noticed along the edge of the road another sack like the one Ginny had come across earlier. He picked it up and frowned. “This one is lighter, but also seems to be the money for around here. Think that means we’re getting closer?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Ginny said with a frown. She didn’t want to assume that it did mean they were getting closer because that would mean getting her hopes up. The only problem she saw was that they were about to come to a fork in the path. One leading down into the mountain range and one leading up towards higher mountains. She didn’t know which way to go and she didn’t know if they would find the things they needed to survive on either path. It’s not like she knew these lands! She sighed and grabbed the bag from him stuffing it in her robes next to the other bag and hoped that they might find some clue of which way to go. 

“We should stop and rest a bit.” She said, hoping to catch a break as her back began to hurt. She would need to be in better shape if she was going to win against Hufflepuff when she got back, so long as she got back in time. She frowned, sad. How much a broom would help right now! Almost as if hearing their plea a girl with bright purple robes and long blond hair floated overhead on a broom! Ginny wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not since this was almost exactly what she needed to see, but she let go of Draco’s hand and waved to the girl. “Excuse me! Excuse me miss!”

The blond haired girl lowered herself and looked at Ginny with amusement. “Why hello there young travelers! Are you new to the Ay Region? I daresay I don’t remember clothes like those among the locals of villages nearby, although I very much could be mistaken. They could easily be cloaks like the villagers in the mountains I suppose, but then I think I would remember your names! Oh, dear me, I do fear I might have met and forgotten you! How rude of me! Well, just in case, my name is Rowan, yes, like the rose tree. And I see you have found one of our Downy Woodpecker Reeves. Their bright red feathers sure do make the other reves like them. It seems to like your lot though! Sometimes the creatures around here like to follow our travelers home and that is A-ok with me, so long as you provide a good loving home for it!”

“Umm,” Ginny could barely get a word in edgewise as the Rowan girl continued. “I do recommend the Octoberry’s for a diet. They are good and good for many of the creatures around here. Have you lot run into other creatures? I suppose not because it’s daylight and often times the creatures of the day are better hidden than our little Reve-friend eh? It would seem you both look a little peeky though, here!” She reached into her cloak and produced some berries and a bottle of water. “I had planned to save them for later, but I can always grab more when I head home.” 

“Miss Rowan?” Ginny finally managed when Rowan got distracted by Draco. Her eyes looking him up and down in a way that made Ginny very uncomfortable. “I appreciate the water and berries for sure. Can you tell us where the nearest village is? We are trying to make our way home and we figured there might be a map or someone who knows where we are so we can get back to London.”

“What’s a London?” Rowan placed a hand on her chin, while keeping her other firmly on the broom. “Well, in either case I can definitely help you both find the nearest village and maybe even a place to spend the night if you have enough blue paws, although if you don’t I might be able to talk to some of my friends about letting you board for the night. I know a lot of people. It’s one of the plus sides of being a greeter, is it not? Oh, I never did find out your names, did I? How rude of me!”

Ginny was spellbound by this woman and her ability to talk and talk and talk as if they somehow had a clue what she was going on about. She was just glad to finally catch a break. “I am Ginny and this is my boyfriend Draco.” Draco’s face shifted her direction in shock, but Rowan didn’t seem to notice her claim on the young man next to her as she nodded, but kept eyeing him with interest. 

“Well, it is very nice to meet you both! Why don’t I lead you two to the next village in the mountains and then we can all rest for the night. Tomorrow I can help you find some shops and maybe a map to help you find this london you are looking for! For all we know, it might be right under our noses!”

Ginny highly doubted it. Still she didn’t mind having a guide. Rowan floated along, going on the path upwards but making sure to stay low enough to the ground that she could still chat with them and not lose track, even though Ginny had lost track of what she’d said long ago! She continued to talk about what Ginny assumed was the nearby villages and their people, but not going into enough detail to let Ginny know what the best place to go in their predicament may be. She also talked about the local cuisine, much of which was fruit or beasts she’d never heard of! They ended up passing some creatures with big fluffy tails and some with horns and even one that reminded her much of the ghosts of hogwarts with the way it was see-through and had a wispy tail, but before she could point it out to Draco it disappeared. She frowned and continued following the talkative chatterbox that is Rowan. 

At one point she was talking but Ginny hadn’t been paying attention and when she finally did she noticed Rowan was no longer speaking proper English. She made a noise and Rowan must have caught herself because she then began chattering away in English once more. 

Draco was the first to point out the village in the distance. It was mostly hut-like houses with red roofs and a white-brick siding. Rowan noticed their aww at the village and smiled. “Ah yes, you both have definitely never been around Ay if you don’t recognize our mountain village. Well, I suppose if you grew up under a rock or in the scrublands…”

Ginny could hardly believe her eyes as she wandered down the path with Rowan. Not only was she surprised by the amount of people that came out of the huts but she also couldn't believe it when Rowan just walked up to one of them and gave them a hug. “It's so good to see you guys. It's been so long since I've seen this wonderful Village. I'm just glad to be back bringing these wonderful people that you guys do not know, but probably will. we need a place to stay the night. Would you happen to know of a place that we could stay at least for the night? It would be much appreciated.”

One Of the children grabbed her hand and led her into one of the huts and up to an older woman whom Ginny assumed was her mother. Ginny and Draco followed out of curiousity, but also because they figured someone who knew the land and the people could come in handy. Before they knew it they had a place to stay for the night and were welcomed for dinner even, which was a welcome turn of events! Ginny smiled and gave a grateful nod to the woman as she lay blankets out for the three of them and set seeds outside for the reve, Flufferious. It wasn’t long before Ginny grew tired, but she longed for the comfort of her bed in Gryffindor towers, where at least she had a bed! Draco attempted to comfort her by allowing her to use his arm as a pillow, but even that was not enough to give her peace. There was very little sleep to be had that night, but plenty of tossing and turning. 

The next morning Ginny rolled over onto her side and noticed the sun coming up and was slightly grateful because the sooner they could go out, hopefully the sooner they could get home! Rowan had awoken over an hour ago and was chatting with the woman of the house (hut?) and had helped to keep her company while she made the breakfast for the group. It was made up of berries she had gathered, just that morning! Ginny smiled at the woman appreciatively. “Thank you Miss…” Ginny wasn’t sure what to call the kind woman who had given them a place to lay for the night. 

“Manju darling. I am Manju.” Manju had green hair and a tail that whipped under her clothes every once in awhile. Ginny noticed that many of the people here had traits of animals and she wondered if that was from inbreeding, something in the water, or worse! She tried to ignore it however and just enjoy the company of this kind woman, who talked a LOT less than Rowan. Of course, it’s also possible she also couldn’t get a word in edgewise when Rowan talked about the culture of the towns around them that Draco and she had yet to get to. (and part of her hoped that she wouldn’t) 

Manju walked outside with a basket of berries for Flufferius and left Rowan to continue her current conversation with Draco about the gait of the walk many of the people seemed to have. Apparently it was more common to leave space for people to walk because of the tails or wings another person may have. She also seemed to have a slight dislike of Scion and his behavior however and had made it very known. Ginny didn’t want to admit it, but she slightly agreed with Rowan on that detail. 

Ginny found herself engaging more today with Rowan than she had the previous day, possibly because Rowan was running out of things to say or possibly because she was finally comfortable with them, Ginny had no clue! She was not even surprised when Rowan took her hand and led her into a shop in the middle of the small village, a building with tall windows and a single door in the center with a sign above it that said ‘Shoppe’. Inside the shop there were many shelved and a woman behind the counter who smiled at her as she walked in. “Welcome!” 

Ginny smiled kindly and then went to look around. On the top shelf nearest her were some eggs in a jar specifying random species of creatures she did not know. She was slightly interested, but even moreso by the nest next to the jars with a few inside for a slightly better deal. The creatures here seemed loved and wanted, so she was curious as to the reason they were kept in a shop versus in someone's home to be cared for. She found out not too long later when she found a guide on the care of the creatures in the eggs. It seemed as though these creatures were a majority of the population, possibly overpopulation! But they did not hatch unless someone cared for the eggs, so they were kept in the shops until someone wanted to care for them and hatch them into a loving home. This was to prevent overpopulation in the wild. Some people when they got too many creatures of the same type liked to just dump theirs into the wild with no way to fend for themselves and in doing so many were never seen again. Other people sent theirs to live with people in nearby villages but never checked on them again, also leading them to be placed in the wild versus being cared for. The shops were in place to make sure the creatures were cared for enough to be purchased with BP (their equivalent to knuts it seemed), that they might get a loving home. Ginny loved the concept so much that she grabbed one of the jars with the label “melo” and took it to the register. “How many of these for this egg miss?” She asked the woman in charge. 

The woman looked at her thoughtfully. “Have you ever had one of our creatures before?” She asked, nodding to the egg in the jar. Ginny shook her head and was a little worried the woman would deny her buying the creature since she had no experience in handling them. The woman instead smiled kindly and said, “Honestly, many of my stock were about to go to the adoption center to be adopted by kind souls who I’d hope would take care of them. I’d love for you to take that one with you. If you want it to hatch you must bring it to the Phoenix tree. Rowan can show you the way. There it will feel the energy surrounding you and will hatch to a Melo that is fitting of you.”

Ginny was mesmerized by the description and nodded. “So I need to go to the Phoenix tree. Does it look like a phoenix?” 

“It’s wispy leaves look like the tail of a phoenix. It is well known in these lands. Did I see your friend come in with a Reve yesterday?” She looked out the window at Draco who was out whistling at the Reve and thoroughly acting the perfect pet owner, which surprised Ginny in a way. She didn’t think he could be so good with animals, but this place was teaching her otherwise. Did she really want to leave while she was learning so much about Draco? Of course, she did really want to get home too. But remembering her true objective she decided to ask the lady. “Do you by chance know where London is?”

“What’s a london?” She asked curiously. 

“It’s a place in the United Kingdom... ” Ginny felt like an idiot asking because these people knew nothing of London, they probably didn’t know about the U.K either. She was proven right by the blank stare she received. “Nevermind. I am going to look around a little more.”

The woman nodded but was now looking at her a little funny, probably regretting saying she could have one of the eggs. Ginny honestly hoped that was not the case. She wandered over to another shelf and saw keys… but they all looked the same. She noticed Rowan nearby and decided to ask her instead of the shop lady because she didn’t want to come off completely incompetent despite feeling that way at this particular moment. “Rowan?”

Rowan turned to look at her with her blonde hair slightly going into her face. She had her broomstick at her side and was browsing the shelves near where Ginny had found the eggs. “Yes dear?” She asked, which Ginny was almost sure was the least amount of words Rowan had ever said and stopped. 

“I was just curious…” Ginny picked up one of the keys and showed it to Rowan. “Why are there so many keys that are identical?” 

Rowan giggled and tilted her head. “I keep forgetting how new to this place you two are! Forgive me! This just reminds me to point out more to you both as we continue on our way. You see, there is this “trickster” who puts chests out, what I believe is on a daily basis. They put them everywhere. In trees, near rocks, sometimes even in the middle of a walking path! Most of the creatures our people own find them much easier than we might on our own though. I was always curious if they put some kind of scent on them that melos and the like can find! Anyways, the chests all have the same lock but sometimes the lock breaks when you’re putting the key into it… I think on purpose, but I can never be sure. Other times you open it to find a really cheap item in it, I think they call it a joke item. And other times there is really cool items in it that can be used for currency during our festivals and whatnot. Actually, have you heard of scav?”

“Scav?” Ginny asked, not knowing what scav was, but also knowing that she really didn’t know what the keys were for even after Rowan’s explanation. 

“Scav is an amazing adventure that happens all through Ay and Ara! People of all types get together and form groups to do fun tasks together. Last year, I got to make a plushie of my very own Melo. It was quite exciting. This year, I am not participating, but I am watching as others participate in the fun! You may notice people doing odd things like singing out of nowhere and playing with the balloons. Don’t let that bother you. It’s just a task they are working on. You may even want to join if you’ll stay for the week!” Rowan’s excitement for this “Scav” was a little ridiculous, but Ginny didn’t want to start her on another tangent. She decided on the safe approach. 

“I-uh I don’t plan to be here for the week.”Ginny said and was glad because if people were doing weird things around her, she doubted that Rowan would ever shut up! She could barely get her to with the normal stuff Rowan was used to around! Ginny made her way around to the other side of the shelf, hoping for a bit of peace and quiet before they had to leave again. Now that she had asked about the keys, she had probably signed up for Rowan showing all the chests to her as they went. ‘Yay’ Ginny thought with as much sarcasm as she could muster. She looked at the items labeled ‘Monster detector’ and noticed that it looked like the boxing telescopes that her brothers produced in their shop so she decided to leave well enough alone, just in case. She also saw some leaf-shaped candy that she grabbed a few of and a slightly larger jar that had the scene of the mountains inside to remember her trip here. She also grabbed a few (hundred) keys on her way to the register because… well, why not? She may find a use for them as they went. As she walked up to the register she saw Rowan grab a few things of her own and head up to the counter to catch up with her new ‘friend’. 

Ginny placed the items on the counter and was pleased when the amount of the items was a few hundred less than the amount of coins she had found. She was going to ask Rowan about finding those as well, but thought better of it. Who needed a 10 sentence explanation for something when she could easily get the answer from someone else quicker later… if Rowan ever let them meet other people. That would be the fun task Ginny decided was on her. How to ditch the witch?


	3. How to ditch the witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco, Ginny and Rowan travel down the mountainside as they continue on their adventure.

Luckily or perhaps not so luckily for Ginny, Rowan did seem more interested in talking to Draco and pointing things out. In his defense, he held her hand the entire time he chatted with Rowan, squeezing her hand every once in awhile to make sure she was ok. She nodded to him and he took that as a gesture as a good-faith gesture that she was doing fine and would let him know if that changed. Mostly she just wanted to ignore the constant chatter of Rowan who seemed to have thousands of facts somehow lodged in her brain with the facts needing to come out to whoever she came across, in this case Draco and Ginny. 

As the three traveled down the mountainside, they headed towards a large orange tree. In a way, the leaves of it did remind her of a Phoenix tail, long and wispy in the wind. If this was the famous “Phoenix tree” she was excited to get there. She now had a bag in which the two jars lay near one another being cushioned by the candy she had purchased. She was so glad when the rocky path turned grassy as they got closer to that lovely tree which was calling to her. She wanted to know what this Melo creature looked like. Was it the bushy-tailed creature she’d seen on the path towards the village? Or perhaps it was like that scary yellow creature that had tried to attack them when Flufferius saved them from it’s dangerous looking claws. Ginny noticed a group of young kids sitting near the lake as it came into view, a ledge that led into it’s water looked dangerously steep. One of them was holding a jar like the one she had with the egg inside. It was empty though. She wasn’t sure what was more interesting at the moment, seeing if he had hatched an egg or going to hatch her own. 

She decided on the latter after fighting herself to decide which would be more exciting. Of course getting her own pet would be more exciting! Draco noticed her awe at the tree and looked down into the bag. “Did they tell you what your creature would look like?” He asked as he pet the Reve who walked along beside them, almost as if it was humanoid itself. It was definitely a possibility that scion was part reve by the way this creature acted. It was able to bond with a human with ease. Or maybe that was just Draco. He seemed to have a way about him that showed he cared. Why didn’t he show that at Hogwarts? Or is it that she just never noticed before? Either way, he was here and very comfortable to be around. She never noticed him before in the way of being someone she could be comfortable around, but she was actually pleasantly surprised that she could be. If this continued… perhaps THIS could continue at Hogwarts. If nothing more a friendship would be better than nothing else. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by Rowan as she floated over to the nearby tree and smoothly picked up a bright white egg. She held it very lovingly as if it were her own offspring and for all Ginny knew, maybe it was! She saw Rowan lean in and whisper something to it and then set it down once more. Suddenly it started cracking and the boy with the empty jar came over. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, is it time? I’ve been waiting here for days for my egg to hatch. I didn’t want to leave it alone.”

Rowan smiled at the young child and nodded. “It looks like your egg is hatching. Do you know what is inside, young one?”

The little boy shook his head but grabbed his egg up cradling it as a small hole began to appear. A purple finger poked through and the boy reached through, petting it, encouraging the creature to come out. Suddenly the little head broke through, and Ginny noticed it wasn’t a finger that had poked through, but a single horn. This little creature with big eyes, horse like legs and a fluffy tail broke out of the shell and made a mewling sort of noise. Rowan smiled and walked over and tentatively stuck a hand out, looking for permission to touch the creature from the owner who nodded. She reached out and rubbed the horn gently and when she pulled her hand away her hand went automatically to one of her own horns and then back as if she’d done it to smooth out her hat. 

The little kid smiled excitedly and then ran over to his friends. “Look guys, I got a Quetzal!” 

Rowan smiled at the group of kids and then turned back to Draco and Ginny. “Shall we continue on?” She asked, but then noticed Ginny’s hand on her bag. “Oh, did you have business here at the Phoenix Tree?” She suddenly looked all excited. “Here, may I see it?” She asked, holding out her hands. Ginny acquiesced and handed over the egg. “Well, since the two of you are planning to leave us as soon as you can, why don’t I help you out?” She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small rock with what looked like writing on it. She started speaking a language that Ginny did not know and could not follow, but as soon as Rowan was done, the stone burst, flinging little pebbles everywhere. Rowan handed the egg back to Ginny. Suddenly, the egg was starting to crack in a very similar way to the young boy’s and Ginny began to feel the excitement that the boy had felt. Suddenly something puffy broke through one end and Ginny nearly dropped it. She grinned slightly because the poof reminded her of the pygmy puffs at her brother’s joke shops. But then the poof turned into two… no three , (MORE!) poofs as the tail cracked through the egg releasing the cutest creature Ginny had ever seen. It looked almost like a puppy, which she was not allowed to have at home and it had so many poofy tails! 

Rowan came over and grinned. “What a pretty little Arctic Kitsune Melo. Looks like this little guy has been in it’s egg a while waiting for an owner. Arctic Kitsune Melos are often spotted at the top of the mountains, but more often during the winter and that’s when people find their eggs. Often they are stolen while the melos sleep, leaving the parents to wonder where their little kin went or if they were taken to be painted or worse.” Rowan did not specify what worse was, but she expected that worse could mean as a food type thing. Not that Ginny was going to say that thought out loud. Ginny pet the back of the Melo and nuzzled into it’s soft furry side. It yipped and licked her nose, causing Ginny to giggle. “Look at it Draco. Think it could pass as a Pygmy if I brought it home? Mum won’t let me have a dog and this thing reminds me of them.”

Draco smiled and walked over placing a hand on the Melo. “Hello little Pygmy.” He said, calling it by what Ginny now knew would be it’s proper name. Just the way he said it made it seem right. She held the little furball out to Draco and he took it willingly. “My mum and father won’t allow me to have any pets.” Draco said with a sigh, looking down into the little Melo’s eyes, a bond of attachment already growing between the two. Ginny suddenly became very insecure, scared that the little Melo whom she had carried and gotten excited for might like Draco better than it liked her! She stepped forward and lay a hand on it’s neck and it curled up, allowing Ginny to pet it’s stomach. “She’s so pretty.” Ginny said with a smile.

“How do you know it’s a she?” Draco asked, curiosity in his voice.

“Well do you see a dick?”

“Do you see boobs?”

“Do you see a smug look?”

“Don’t you?” Draco grinned and rolled his eyes, playful at best. “Fine, she’s probably a she. But just so you know little miss Ginevra Weasley… girls can be smug too.”

Ginny grinned and nodded. “I know. Now give me my baby.” She said and reached her arms out, which the little Melo took as a moment to jump onto her. Ginny smiled and pet the Melo behind the ears. “You are adorable Pygmy. I am just sad that I don’t know how to bring you home.”

“Bring her home. We don’t even know how to get ourselves home. I mean, maybe there’s a spe…”

“Shh,” Ginny frowned and looked at Minerva. As much as Ginny was sure she was a witch, she didn’t know if she was on their side or possibly someone who might hurt their chances at getting home. She sure was doing a good job at distracting them for the time being. 

Ginny had an idea and walked over to the children sitting by the ledge. She sat beside them, crossing her knees beneath her and whispering, which just got the kids attention more because what do kids like more than secrets? “Did you guys know that my friend Rowan over there is a real witch? She does magic! I saw her hatch your egg little boy and she did the same to mine too!” 

The boy looked up excitedly. “That’s why Esme hatched! I have to go thank her.”

“Yeah and I bet she’d love to help with more eggs. Do you have more eggs she can help with?” Ginny bent a little closer to the boy with the Quetzal. “Don’t you need a friend for your Quetzal?” 

He nodded excitedly. “There’s a shop not too far away in the scrublands that might have more eggs.” 

“Are the scrublands that way?” Ginny pointed in the direction they were heading next and the boy nodded. “Maybe you could join us then and Auntie Rowan could help you with the eggs when you get them. But you have to ask real nice… but not until you have the eggs, ok!” 

The young children nodded, looking excited and Ginny had her out. She just needed Rowan to return to the tree with the kids and her and Draco could move on their way. She stood up and led the kids over to the other two who had started talking about Rosettas, whatever those were. She coughed and caught Rowan off-guard. “I have some fellow travelers who would like to join us through the scrublands if that’s ok Miss Rowan?” 

Rowan nodded excitedly. “Of course, of course! Please join us! Have you children…”

 

Ginny tooned out, glad to finally have Rowan’s chatter elsewhere. She looked at Draco who chuckled and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “All part of the plan, eh?”

“Plan?” Ginny asked, feigning innocence. 

“To get me alone for your sexual needs.” Draco said the last two words in a tone that made Ginny shiver. She hadn’t even considered Draco as more than a friend at this point, but the way he was making her feel…. The ways he seemed to have changed… well she might just reconsider. She bit her lip and shook her head, but her brain kept saying “LET THE CUTE BOY SPEAK!” 

“No, I just didn’t want her to chat your ear off AGAIN.” 

“You want to chat my ear off? Or are you thinking of doing something else to me?” He had slowed down enough that while Rowan and the kids were still in eyesight, they would never be able to hear the two way back here. 

“Like what?” Ginny asked, feigning innocence once more. She wanted to hear what Draco Bloody-sex-god Malfoy would want her to do to him. Everyone knew he had plenty of girls in Slytherin who would do anything for him. He just smirked. “I could think of a few things…”

Ginny could feel her face turning bright red, so she kept her face forward to not let on that she knew what he was talking about. “I mean, I guess I could give you a relaxing massage after our long walk.” 

She glanced over to see Draco raise a brow. “JUST a massage?” He asked and looked at her with a small smile.

“Depends on if you can be good or not.” Ginny said with a wink and continued her pace to make sure they did not lose Rowan. They were coming to a new area now. Slightly wooded but there wasn’t much grass here… or at least green grass. “So these are the scrublands eh?” She said, looking around. “I wonder why people thought we were from around here?” 

Suddenly Pygmy jumped down from Ginny’s arms and yipped at a blue item on the ground connected to a vine. She picked it up and looked at it. It looked very familiar for some reason. “Haha, it looks like a dragon head.” Draco grinned pointing out to her the nose, ears and head shape. She suddenly laughed. She could hardly believe she didn’t notice it looked like a dragon! “You want this Pygmy?” She asked, raising it up and watching as Draco plucked another for Flufferious. As Flufferious chomped down, Draco made a slight noise that Ginny couldn’t quite decipher. “You ok?” She asked as Pygmy jumped up and grabbed the one out of her hand.

“Yeah…” Draco frowned. “Sort of. I mean, technically I am feeding my pet a Draco.” 

Ginny laughed at the thought and shook her head rolling her eyes. “Not literally though! It’s a berry!” 

“I know.” Draco said, but he looked squeamish. “Still, it’s the principal of the thing.” 

Suddenly Pygmy darted off to beneath a tree and began to dig. Rowan must finally have noticed how behind they lagged was floating ahead but not moving with the kids surrounding her and asking questions. Ginny walked over to where Pygmy was digging and saw a bag next to the hole and she reached down to grab it, but as she picked it up she saw another sack buried in the ground. “Wow good job pygmy!” She said with a smile and grabbed the second bag, adding both to her satchel. She noticed a treasure chest up ahead near where the group was talking and she grabbed a key out of the bag and walked over to it. She stuck the key in and “POOF!” The lock crumbled around the key, but the top was still fully secure. She frowned. Unfortunately it looked like that chest was a dud! 

She frowned and walked over to Draco who noticed her disappointment. “A bad chest, eh?” 

“Yeah. Did you and Rowan talk about them?” She asked, feeling slightly jealous that he seemed to know more than her already… but that may be because Draco was close to the age of adulthood and had to take his learning more seriously even in a world they did not know in case it was relevant. Draco nodded but shrugged. “I mean yeah, but I noticed a few along the way the other day but we didn’t have keys or a way to open them. Rowan said they didn’t just open without a key and it was useless trying to break in or you would break the chest. She did say sometimes you could get lucky, but the chances weren’t honestly all that great…”

Ginny nodded with a frown. “Well I bought some keys to check some so if you see more…”

“I’ll tell you Gin.” Draco grabbed her hand and Ginny felt her tension melt away. She didn’t realize how much Rowan got to her. Draco was trying to help her feel safe too, all the while despite how she kept getting… well Jealous was the only word that made sense. 

Suddenly Pygmy yipped and jumped to nip at her sleave and Ginny turned to pay attention to her pet, but never letting go of Draco’s hand. It led her over behind a rock and she was in awe. There were literally thousands of the coins behind the rock with no bag, but also no explanation. She couldn’t believe her luck. Perhaps that’s how they were to get out… buying their way out with the random monies they found. She started scooping them into her bag and Draco started filling his pockets. She was almost full up on them and the coins weren’t exactly light. 

She sighed and pulled the bag over her shoulder, dreading what the weight would do to her in the morning. “Oh, Ginevra!” Rowan’s voice trilled from in front of them. “I never gave you a bag of withholding, have I? The bag is useful for carrying large amounts of our blue paws so you don’t have to just give them up when they get to heavy. With a bit of magic, the coins feel light as air within it’s depths!” 

Ginny could feel her face flushing with a bit of fury. Rowan had seen her with so many coins yesterday and hadn’t thought to give her a bag of withholding, but today she would?! She was about to yell at the witch when Draco stepped ahead of her, with her hand still in his, squeezing her fingers gently in warning. “I think we could both use one.” He said in a sneer that was true of Malfoy. He was taking out her anger for her! Oh bless his heart! Ginny had always been told he didn’t have one! Now she knew differently. Rowan frowned at his obvious attitude but pulled out two blue bags and handed one to each. Ginny began to put the coins into the bag, but as she did the bag didn’t gain any weight. She looked inside and low and behold the money was there. She could reach it and pull it out, but it didn’t hold any weight at all. Magic indeed! Now this was the type of thing she was glad she had. Did that mean all people in Ay knew of this magic? As much as she wanted to ask, she knew better than to ask another question of Rowan. She was so done asking that witch anything.

 

“Coming you two?” Rowan asked and tilted her head until Ginny saw a village in the distance. At last it was her escape. Ginny happily went ahead with Draco following along with curious eyes. He knew she was probably up to something, but what he did not know. As they made their way towards the center of town, Ginny saw a little pond with fish swimming in it and children running around. Many wore cloaks not much unlike her own. “Ohhhh.” She said and turned to Draco. “You think Scion judged us by our clothing?” She asked curiously. Draco shrugged, unsure what Scion may or may not have judged them on. He had made Draco feel like a moron for not knowing what this place was. 

“We have a special chef in town tonight folks! Claude the magnificent is here to cook pleasurable delicacies of which your mouth has never had the pleasure of before!” A lady in her mid-twenties smiled kindly at them after making her announcement, probably hoping to get them to come in and spend money. Ginny was used to barkers at Diagon Alley calling out how special their place was and what amazing gadgets and gizmos they’d come up with today. Actually George made a pretty good barker for the Wizard Weasley Wheezes. Fred could not compare to the energy that George had and the enthusiasm he could get from young kids on the streets. 

The woman walked in front of Ginny, “You’d love Claude’s food dear. You should come in! Come in and enjoy the atmosphere as Claude cooks for you tableside at the bar.”

“Umm, no thank you.” Ginny said with a frown and moved around the woman who now had her eyes on Draco. She was about to say something when she fell backwards and yelped in pain. “Oof, I must have tripped on something!” She said as she made her way to stand again. Draco laughed as he passed the poor girl who obviously didn’t know magic when it hit her. Ginny had barely noticed him touch the wand and he’d already slid it back into his robe. She felt at her side to make sure hers was still there and was pleased to find it was. She should have made sure much sooner, but she didn’t know how Magic would help them out here anyways.

Rowan was leading them into a shop and it was obvious the kids had at least mentioned that they wanted to get eggs. They ran right over to a big display of eggs with labels like soli, phanto, insi and maki among many others. Ginny wandered down the aisle and saw a shelf with some dyes in colors like purple, orange, and green. “Have you ever wondered why muggles dye eggs?” Draco asked with a bit of confusion on his face as he looked at the items on the shelf. His reve was currently flapping excitedly trying to grab some of the berries they saw earlier. “Dragonberry.” She laughed as she saw the name along with it’s price of 200 bp. That was nothing with the thousands she had in her bag of withholding. But because she knew Draco disliked the pets eating them, she picked up the berry in the container next to the dragonberries, called a popping berry that had blue, red and green little berries all mixed together. She wondered if it was called a popping berry because the berries pop in your mouth? But she knew enough from her brother’s joke shop not to try random things that sounded like they could be dangerous. She walked over to the counter to ask the shop owner. She watched Ginny with a smile in her eyes and then said, “Berry go pop, berry go pop. Pop goes the berry and the berry go pop.”

Ginny’s eyes widened as she decided that probably meant what she thought it meant. Harry had once brought a candy called pop rocks to the burrow and Ginny, not knowing what the candy was had put a handful of the candy into her mouth and Harry’s face when her eyes went wide and she tried to spit it out as the candy made her tongue tingle oddly was not fun. He had found amusement in her embarrassment. Still, maybe the pets here liked that? “Do Melos like them?” She asked cautiously. 

“Melos like the berry but not the berry that go pop.” She said simply and Ginny sighed. She decided to not to get the popping berry for her pets. She didn’t want the Melo to dislike her or the Reve to dislike Draco. He was obviously super attached to the reve at this point. Was he hoping that he’d be able to keep it when they went home? Would they go home? Ginny was nervous. She wanted to go home…. She really did. But something about the calmness here and the pets was distracting enough to want to stay. Hell, maybe even the fact that she and Draco were close here was a factor as well. Draco was currently looking at a couple of blue items and was holding one that looked kind of like a potion vial. He was curious because it had a top on it and didn’t seem to want to open easily. Suddenly the top popped open and his reve, who was standing beside him wasn’t there anymore! “Flufferius!” Ginny yelled, causing Draco to look down and not see his pet. Ginny ran over and closed the lid, which changed the color of his reve with a reddish tint at the top. 

“W-what happened to him?” Draco was suddenly panicking. “Oh my god, did I kill my pet?!” He looked like he was about to cry, an emotion that Ginny was almost positive that she had not seen on Draco’s face. Anger, annoyance, maybe fear but never sadness, depression and longing. The woman behind the counter noticed his change and walked over. “It’s ok! It just put your pet into a deep sleep. The pets are magically enchanted to endure long periods of sleep inside the bottled “lair” that the vial is. There is also the orb here that allows 5 pets to sleep at a time! It’s good for them! Do not fear. Pets sleep!”

Draco frowned, but Ginny could see his shoulders sagging slightly in a bit of relief. In all the things they had seen, like the bag of withholding, this type of magical item should NOT have caused this much fear, but it still was something you didn’t see everyday! Especially when you consider the closest thing Ginny could think of that would do something like that was a boggart that could hide in small places you wouldn’t imagine! 

“Is-is it ok to let them out?” Ginny asked. “Or do they need to spend a certain amount of time in there?”

“Well, honestly, the pets need more sleep that humans do. It is better if you are just sitting around to allow them to sleep. Restaurants especially like that because otherwise they’d have all the pets eating all the food.” 

“So this is better for them?” Draco asked, looking as though he definitely didn’t believe that.

“The pets come out happier. You will notice a notable difference between your pet before the vial and your pet after the vial.” The shopkeeper said with a smile.

Draco decided to test the theory by opening the top once more and his pet appeared before him with a small ‘pop’. Flufferius shook off, ruffling his feathers and chirped happily. Ginny had forgotten how loud the bird could be and was actually surprised that a small amount of time like that could make it’s energy more. Not that she’d complain. It was obvious she needed one of the vials… or maybe even the orb. Did she want to collect more creatures before going home? Definitely! Especially if they could come with her. It was no surprise to anyone that Ginny loved pets and fluffy things! And it surprised her a bit that Draco did too, but she would never complain!

Draco walked over and handed her an orb on a silver chain, with a small clasp on the bottom that apparently opened to let the pet in and out. He had grabbed one of his own too and put the vial back onto the shelf. “One more thing.” The shopkeeper said in a serious tone that caused both of them to pause in case they were off-track in what their pets needed. “Pets do like to travel. Let them travel with you!” 

Ginny smiled as her Melo yipped excitedly and she picked up her little fluffball. “I am definitely ok with doing that!” 

“Honestly, I think we might want to stay the night here and let the pets sleep too. Rowan?” Draco asked, looking around to find her looking at the eggs with the kids. “I think it’s better if you go with them and we’re gonna stay here for the night. Did you want to meet us here tomorrow?” 

“That would be great!” Rowan said with a smile and grinned in a way that irked Ginny. Did he really just invite her to come along? Ugh! All she wanted to do was keep moving and lose the witch for good! She could feel her face brightening red with anger and it must have been at just that moment Draco noticed. “What?” He asked, with wide eyes. 

Ginny crossed her arms and turned away, walking over to the counter, dropping a bag of coins, more than enough for both orbs and walking out the door. There was more people milling around and she looked around to take in what was around her. There was a couple houses and an older building that actually kind of looked like the burrow in use. There was a couple larger buildings that had larger windows. One was more hut-like in appearance with a rounded shape but made out of sturdier materials, possibly clay or a while brick? The other larger building was nearby the pond and had the feel of holding more people. It was just slightly larger than the restaurant they had passed earlier. She walked in and saw a girl with purple hair and bright pink ears who looked kindly at her. “Welcome, welcome! I am Colette. Welcome to the Scrubland Hotel. How many I help you tonight?”

“I-I’m looking for a hotel room for the night. I just need… sleep.” Away from Malfoy. Away from Rowan. Away from issues that may arise. Draco burst through the door and looked at her. “Did I do something wrong?” 

Colette’s ears pricked up and she frowned. “Is he bothering you dear?”

Ginny looked at Draco and then over to Collette and back. Draco had pleading eyes and Ginny shook her head. She wasn’t going to let Draco’s bad decision cause her to dislike him again. At least not until he proved not trustworthy. “No, he’s with me. I need a room with two beds.”

“All I have left are one bed rooms dear.” Colette frowned, looking like she should be anywhere but here. It really didn’t look like she wanted to be here. 

“I can sleep on the floor.” Draco said. “We can also let our pets sleep in the orbs for the night so there should be plenty of room for that.” 

Ginny tilted her head and considered this and then nodded. “Alright, one room please.”

“Thank you dear! That will be 16,000 bp for the night!” Ginny pulled out the bag and the woman raised her hand and the coins lined themselves on the counter in front of her. “Looks good dear. Here is a key to your room.” She pulled out a blue card with yellow stripes and a key symbol on the front of it. “Also, when you’re checking out, we will deactivate the card and it will become a discount card! When you meet a merchant, they will give you a discount for showing loyalty to the loyal businesses around here. Only select ones can hand them out, such as hotels, doctor’s offices, and certain clothing stores!” She winked and Ginny was confused as to why the woman was promoting those specifically. She really hoped she wouldn’t need a doctor’s office and while she was glad she’d made it to a hotel room, she probably wouldn’t be buying clothes… unless they had to be here much longer! She really didn’t need new clothes from a place with a fashion sense that definitely did not match her own.

“Well, it is much appreciated. What room?” Collette stood up and led them to a room two doors down the hall. Ginny saw a brown rustic blanket on the bed and could tell it was going to be comfortable. However the floor did not. She felt bad, but there was no way she was going to share a bed with Malfoy, not while he was wanting more while she was still not sure about being close to him. Her mind raced all day long about how she should stay loyal to Harry despite him not showing any interest in her. Was it all in Ginny’s head? Was this? These emotions coursing through her mind and the tingling through her body each time Draco touched her. Colette had already turned and was heading back to the desk. Ginny walked in and sat down on the bed with Pygmy following her. She grabbed the orb from her bag and opened it, watching Pygmy disappear and her ball turn a greyish white. She lay it down on the table beside the bed and then turned on the light. 

Draco had walked over and done similarly, but he sat beside the wall looking at her. “What did I do or say wrong?” He asked finally, looking up, but his eyes downcast as if he were afraid of the answer. 

Ginny decided she needed to find out the answer of if this was in her head. “Do you like Rowan?”

“Rowan?” Draco asked, his eyes shooting up to meet hers as if to ask ‘Is that really the question?’. “I mean, she’s nice enough. She definitely knows enough of the area and the items around to be a good guide, yeah. But do you mean…” He paused and watched her face. “Do you mean, do I find her attractive?” Ginny’s face must have given her away. He took this chance and stood up and set a hand on hers. “Ginevra Weasley, you have met my family. They are all hard-headed, strict with a broad knowledge of the magical world. Mainly they need to know all that information to figure out how to work around laws and rules. But it doesn’t make them any less than know it alls. And they’re both blonde, proudly so because to them the blonde hair is a symbol of pureness. You know the funny part of that? The Weasleys are just as old in name but are all redheaded. And honestly, I am pretty sure are more pure in all ways.”

Ginny could feel her breath hitch at the way he put down his own hair color and family. He took that moment to press into her with a kiss and placed a hand on the side of her head, looking into her eyes. “No Ginevra. I do not like Rowan. I actually have a crush on this wonderfully kind hearted girl who likes cute fluffy things and seems to see into my emotions, despite the hard time I have given your friends and your… family.” He bit his lip and looked down regretfully. “So when you got sent here, whether by fate or whatever, I am just glad that I somehow got sent here with you.”

Ginny smiled. “I’m kind of glad about that too. Honestly Harry probably would be tearing through here trying to find his way home, not caring who he hurt. Even though I don’t like Rowan, I wouldn’t want to see the words he would say to her. In fact, I think, even with my jealousy, I am still glad you were kind to Rowan. I always think of you as having this ice heart at Hogwarts.”

“Ice heart?” Draco asked and backed up a bit but Ginny caught his hands in hers. “I should say I used to think of you having an ice heart. The Draco Malfoy I have met here and am getting to know better… him I like.” 

Draco smiled softly and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Well, this Ginny Weasley hasn’t changed at all and I am glad for that. I love the fact that you get excited about a poof ball hatching out of that egg. And the fact that you helped me when my pet disappeared. I barely ever have anyone care about my feelings especially when it comes to animals. I remember back in my third year Hagrid had this big beautiful Hippogriff that he wanted the class to get used to and maybe even have it trust us. I had hoped that it would see that I was excited about it. This big, beautiful bird head and eyes that shined with a knowing. I got overexcited and went forward, only to be attacked. Now, Potter and his friends probably think I hate birds and other creatures because of that, but it’s simply not true!”

“The hippogriff that your father tried to have killed?”

“The very same.” Draco frowned. “I didn’t want my father to do that. In fact, it wasn’t even me who told him that Buckbeak attacked me. I think it might have been Crabbe or Goyle. Of course, in Slytherin, we are told to always keep up our strong appearances to keep others from thinking of our house as weak. In fact, it’s caused me to become harder than anything else. Even the pressures of my father cannot compare to the pressures of a house that apparently I am meant to be in.”

Ginny tilted her head. “You wanted to be in Slytherin.”

“That is true…” Draco sighed. “Live to learn and regret I suppose. Kind of like I regret asking Rowan to help us tomorrow. I should have noticed your lack of comfort around her and even your jealousy.”

“I…” Ginny couldn’t tell him he was wrong. He had nailed her right on. So perhaps she should trust him. “Maybe you’re right. She knows this area.” 

Draco shook his head. “You think she’s the only one who knows this area? She doesn’t know how to help us get back home, despite being the only one I’ve met so far with magical abilities. Hell, I even asked her. How stupid could I have been?” Draco sighed. “Actually, I think she took advantage of that. She’s been flirting with me since we met.”

Ginny giggled a little. “Yes, she has.” Ginny sighed and lay back against a pillow, watching Draco back up as if he was about to sit on the floor. “Want to join me in bed?”

“I…” Draco’s eyes went wide. 

This caused Ginny to laugh. “For sleep! We can share a bed without it needing to be more, can’t we?”

He nodded and stood up to join her in the bed. As he lay next to her, he decided to be bold.. “We can certainly just sleep Miss Weasley. Do you mind if I… if I hold you?”

“Like you hold all the other girls?” She asked, shying away from him a bit.

Draco frowned. “What other girls?”

“I know your reputation Draco. You woo all the girls with your sexual flair and then dump them after getting what you want.”

Draco growled. “So that’s why girls from other houses avoid me? A goddamn rumor! Fuck!”

He looked away and shook his head and Ginny swore she almost heard him crying. Ginny suddenly felt bad. Was it false? Was it just another thing that she’d heard that was false? Draco had shown her a different side of him ever since they’d gotten here and now she’d just told him that he was exactly who everyone was saying he was. She scooted over towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Draco…”

He shrugged away from her. Suddenly he turned towards her, anger burning in his eyes. “I can’t believe I kissed you! I can’t believe I let you in when you are just like everyone else, believing the worst in me!”

“I… I don’t Draco. I made a mistake. I thought you liked that reputation…”

“Ha!” Draco stood up and walked over to the wall, shrinking back into it. “You know, maybe it’s better this way. I…”

Ginny walked over to him and kissed him, stopping him from saying any more. “No. I was wrong. I like you Draco Malfoy. I love the way you made me feel and now I realize I don’t deserve it. I never deserved you to kiss me and tell me how you had come to have a crush on me and truthfully, I kind of have one on you too. You’re kind, considerate and you have a good head on your shoulders. Not only that but you are smart and are very cute. Please… will you join me in bed? I would love for you to cuddle up to me and hold me tonight. I just didn’t want it to turn into more. Not yet. I’m not ready for…”

Draco’s face brightened red and his eyes got wide. “You thought I would use you and then be done with you. Ginevra, I would never do that to you!”

Ginny found herself entranced by the way Draco called her Ginevra, a name usually only her mother called her. But the way he called her it made it obvious he respected her and saw her as his equal. “Will you…?” She began again and Draco nodded, not needing her to finish that thought. She smiled a little and grabbed his hand, leading him back to the bed.

As soon as they lay down Draco reached over and wrapped an arm around her. She curled into him and closed her eyes. As she drifted off, all she could see was Draco Malfoy and the perfect moment as he kissed her.


	4. Games and Good times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the fields, the infamous duo learn about this thing called "scav"

Draco snored as he slept sometimes. Ginny learned that the hard way as she woke up to him snoring in her ear. She giggled and turned over, pulling out of his arms carefully, so he wouldn’t wake up. It was barely daylight and she yawned, closing her eyes once more.

When Ginny woke up next it was to the door being knocked at. Ginny sat up disoriented. Draco was throwing on his shoes and opened the door a little bit. “Rowan!” Draco said, surprise evident. How had she known what room they were in? Of course, this was her area, maybe she had connections?

“Hello you two!” She said all chipper. “I hope you both rested well. We’re heading to the fields today. You’ve got a bit of a hike through there if you wanted to see some of the scav activities people are doing?”

Ginny nodded excitedly. She remembered that Rowan had mentioned Scav to them the other day and wanted to see what it was up close. Perhaps even participate in it a bit before they did go home. Plus that would give them plenty of people to talk to about helping them find home, so it was doubly helpful. She grabbed her shoes and walked over to the nightstand to grab her bag, along with her orb in which the Melo was sleeping. Did she really want to disturb her pet just to go walking more? She decided against it, but Rowan reached into her bag and grabbed the orb, opening the tab and making Pygmy appear. “You can’t go adventuring without a pet! They want to see Ay as much as you do!” 

Ginny frowned. She could see that. Maybe she was being unfair to her little pet. She reached down to pet Pygmy who yipped playfully. Draco grabbed his bag off of the side table and opened the clasp on his orb, allowing Flufferius to walk free. Flufferius shook off it’s feathers and looked up at Draco with excited eyes. Draco tapped his shoulder and it hopped up. In a way it acted like an owl of their world. She even bet it would carry mail if they asked. She picked up her own little creature which nuzzled into her arm comfortably. 

Ginny closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into the cute creature lovingly and she felt it making a noise, almost a purr-like noise like Hermione’s cat liked to make when it was happy. She hoped that meant that her little Melo was happy as well. It’s fluffy tail hit her face a few times before she pulled away and put the precious creature down, watching it jump over by Rowan, hopping up on her legs, looking to be let up as Ginny had done. Rowan giggled. “I don’t think so Pygmy. As cute as you are, you know you’ll want to run.” Pygmy suddenly stopped and looked out the door as if looking for permission and then when it got the affirmative, she ran down the hall. 

Ginny, Draco, and Rowan followed the little Melo as it led the way. How it knew where it was going Ginny had no clue! It was still fairly new to this world, like them, but it still knew where it was going to go. She looked around as she ran and Draco grabbed a few keys to check some chests as they went since he had longer legs and was able to catch up easier. He had two of them break and frowned, but the next one he found an orb that was orange. He rolled it around his fingers and then stuck it in his bag. He found another one that was green with blue and teal throughout it. It was very shiny. They were both probably about the size of markers, so easy to stow into the bags they were holding. Ginny removed a few keys too as she saw some chests hidden among the tree branches which she was not above climbing the trees to open them. She opened one chest and found a gold-covered CD. She didn’t know what it was though, so she handed it to Rowan who nodded with a smile. “Thank you!” As you can see we’ve passed the scrublands and are now into the fields. The grass is much nicer here.And the plants a little more bright and colorful. Plus, the giant sunflowers really don’t hurt the sight. Have you seen the animals around.”

Ginny looked around at the open landscape before her with just a few trees. From her vantage point she could see orange and bright green and blue creatures that looked the same. They all had a couple antennas and a pointy tail that Ginny knew she should probably stay away from. There were some cute little Melos running around chasing each other. Each one had it’s own color scheme from being grey with a pink flowered design or brown with antlers or even yellow with black markings and wings. Around that last one there were little butterflies flying around it. It didn’t seem to mind as they sometimes settled onto the Melo. There was a small dragon-like creature dripping some liquid avoiding a blue ghost-like creature that kept disappearing and reappearing right in front of it. Ginny giggled at that.

She then saw a group of kids and a couple of adults sitting in a circle chatting excitedly. And then she noticed all around the field there were groups of 6-10 people chatting or just sitting together as they did something. She finally climbed down the tree. She looked at Rowan. “There’s people not too far from here.” She said and Rowan held out a hand as if to say ‘Lead the way’ so that is what Ginny did. She didn’t expect it, but perhaps Rowan had learned SOMETHING from their time together because she hadn’t said much while they’d been traveling and definitely wasn’t doing a ton of talking today, but of course, today was fresh. As soon as she got around one of the groups, a group of about ten people, she started chatting excitedly with them about what they were doing and what they thought the best part of their “task was”. Ginny listened carefully. She ended up going next to one girl who was holding a needle and thread. She had white stuffing and a TON of fabric.

“What are you working on?” Ginny asked. The girl held up small green cupcake plushie that was green on the bottom and had a pink puff top. “This was a prototype.” The girl said. “I am making one much much bigger. Wanna see?” Ginny nodded, liking what she saw. The girl was so organized and had already practiced so she knew she was going to nail the bigger one. As she watched, it came into being. She sewed the bottom pieces to one large round one that she could easily stand on and have it come up to her knees and still fit inside. She put the white stuffling in and then put on a flat piece to make the bottom portion one piece. With the pink fabric she rolled it a bit and stuffed the rolled bits so that they stayed firm as she sewed one edge to the bottom green portion, allowing for room to stuff the rest of the inside of the pink fabric, which she then sewed the rest of the way across, leaving one giant cupcake, probably a meter tall and a little less than a meter wide and thick. She smiled and said, “Wow, that looks great!” The girl smiled. “Thank you! I have lots of practice with plushes. I do them for my team every year.” 

“Better you than me.” A boy said, as he leaned over a big square device. She knelt over and looked at the big glass device with moving things that looked almost like a mirror, but it was neither this boy or herself she saw but a man in blue wizard robed that over-accentuated his features with a large pointy hat. He didn’t even use a wand to do magic, but instead lifted his hand and it shot a lightning looking thing from his hand. Ginny frowned. “Who is that?” She asked.

“Umm, I think he is called Soren, normally, but I renamed it to Melolover2017 for this task. My friend also created one with the same name and we’re going to friend each other. It’s one of the tasks for scav this year. My favorite part is that I can play a game to do my task!” The young boy with yellow hair and feelers and big rounded wings. He looked over at Ginny, finally noticing Ginny. “Hello, I am Naoki. Are you participating in scav?” Ginny shook her head. “Good!” He said finally. “I wouldn’t want you stealing my work.”

“Umm, can you help me with something?” Ginny asked, noticing Rowan was busy with another girl who was repeatedly reaching into what looked like a small fridge and pulling her hand out. The first time she pulled out a brown drink in a glass and she threw it down. She reached in again, but frowned as her hand came out empty. 

 

“Where’s my bextini!” She shouted with a cry.

Ginny turned her head back to Naoki who asked. “How can I help?”

“I’m looking to go home. Can you help me find out how to get there?”

Naoki perked up. “Yeah? Are you from Ara or Ay?”

Ginny frowned. She was pretty sure the answer was neither. “Umm, England?” She said to which he gave her a blank stare. He turned back to his computer, pressed a button which stopped the wizard from moving and the screen turned to all words. He typed in, “I-N-G-L-A-N-D” and frowned when nothing showed up. She shook her head, “No, replace the I with an E.” She said and he did so, but still nothing came up. ‘Nothing was found with your search query. Please try again.’ Naoki frowned and shook his head. “There is nothing here. Is there something else I could look up to help you find it?”

Ginny shook her head with a frown. He nodded and then the wizard was back on the screen. “Alright then, I am going to get back on the task.” She nodded but was disappointed. She thought that he might actually have had a way for them to get back home. Like maybe that little box could have helped transport them or something. She sighed and a girl tilted her head and leaned over. “You look like you need cheering up.” Ginny looked over and the girl handed over a cookie with something drawn on it in frosting. Ginny was about to refuse when the girl pushed it closer and said, “It’s ok, I already took a picture of it with my team's logo! Please eat it. I’ve eaten so many of them. But they sure do help you feel better. Trust me. Everytime something goes wrong with a task, I grab a cookie and eat it.” 

Ginny laughed and nodded, taking the cookie and taking a bite. It actually tasted pretty good. “Excuse me!” One girl asked, tapping Ginny on the shoulder. Ginny looked up. This girl was from a different circle of friends. She held a camera. “Can I have your little Melo friend help me with something? If you’re going to be here for a little bit?”

“Don’t do it!” The girl with the cookie said. “She’s from another team.”

“Oh come on, scav is just for fun.” The other girl said. She folded her hands together. “Please!” 

Ginny nodded, causing the one girl to groan and the other to get all excited. “What’s her name?” She asked, pointing to the Melo. “Pygmy.” Ginny answered. The girl nodded and walked over to the little fluffball, saying something and then they walked over near the other circle where the girl had the Melo go front and center and that group of friends started pretending to be Melo’s, doing each action that Pygmy did. 

Ginny just laughed and the girl next to her sighed. “That’s actually… pretty good. It’s not often we can get teams together so to get a whole team to participate in a workout video, well, that is definitely going to earn them some points. My teammate who will be working on that is waiting til the last day because she says that’s an “easy task”. I’m not so sure. I mean, why would they give us 40 points for an easy task?”

“Points?” Ginny asked. Like house points? Were they trying to get as many points as they could? The girl nodded. “We’re trying to get as many points as possible. Some teams just do the challenges for fun. We try to do a little bit of both in a way. I mean, Naoki has been playing that game for over 15 hours, when he probably only needed to play 2 or 3, but he’s having fun. He also knows he has other tasks to complete and probably will. If not, I’ll bug him in a day. I mean, he can’t possibly spend that much time on it, can he?” But when Ginny looked over to see how excited he was into the game, she knew that it was likely this girl would have to stop him to do other tasks. “I’m going to go see what the other teams are working on.” Ginny said and the girl nodded, going back to focus on her newest task, something that seemed to include a wet, doughy substance.

Ginny had finished the cookie when she walked over to a slightly smaller group of 6 people, 2 boys and 4 girls who were chatting about how to complete a ‘dating sim’ with whatever they had. One of them started talking excitedly but then noticed her. “Are you on another team?” She asked, somewhat suspiciously. Ginny shook her head. “No, I was just seeing what everyone was working on. There is some really cool projects going on here.”

One of the girls looked up excitedly. “There really are. My favorite ones are the art tasks. I like to draw and there are some wonderful drawing tasks like drawing some baby creatures of some of the hybrids around here.” 

“That should be easy!” Ginny said with a smile. “You already know what they look like!” The girl looked at her like she had two heads. “No, the ones we have to draw are the ones that seem to go hide their eggs in a mountain and we never see until they are fully grown. There are the beautiful Insi and the Wiglen’s, whose babies are always underwater until they become tadpoles. There is actually quite a few creatures we actually haven’t seen. Some babies have started coming out more, sure, but not enough, so this task is to draw the unknown.”

“So you take a guess?” Ginny asked and the girl nodded. “Based on their features and what we know about them, we make up a creature who looks like what we think their baby would look like!”

Ginny was surprised. “Wow. That actually sounds fun. What other art tasks are there?”

“Well I am drawing a poster!” She held up a slightly larger picture with a feminine looking melo on it with a kissy face. Ginny smiled. “That is so cool!” 

“I am collecting plushies!” One girl squeed. “But I had two of one, so I am making one into one of my pets. It’s perfect!” She squeed. “Is that allowed?” One of her team members asked. “I mean, they said we couldn’t combine tasks!” 

“Oh!” The girl frowned. “So I’ll have to use one of my other dolls. I don’t want to mutilate something I only have one of!” Her teammate shrugged, “Sorry.” She looked down and Ginny noticed a tear in her eye. “Hey, be nice to her, ok!” She looked at the girl. “Is there a store in town where you can get yourself a doll? Maybe one of the ones in the scrubland would have one?” The girl shook her head. “No… I am going to have to use my haunted doll. I just… I didn’t want to use her since I only have one.”

The girl got up and ran in a different direction, home, Ginny assumed. She’d left behind her plushes she already had and found one with two of the same. “Think I could have one?” She asked the other teammates who shrugged. One said, “As long as it’s a duplicate, who cares.” Then another looked at the plush and nodded. “That ones pretty common. If she needs another, I have 3 and can give her one of my own.” Ginny smiled and placed the doll into her bag. She had another souvenir she could bring home with her when they were finally able to get home. That prospect still seemed so far away. So far, all the people she had talked to had never heard of London or England and she didn’t really have another way to describe where she lived. In fact, she was kind of getting nervous that there was no way home. There had to be thought, right? She made her way back over where Draco was standing with one of the kids from the first team holding a blue pet as the girl snapped a picture. “Thank you for being a friend to my Teo Aristotles!” She said happily. 

Draco nodded. “Of course. I am glad I could help!” He looked over at Ginny. “Any luck?” He asked. She shook her head. He frowned. “Me either. And some people are just too busy to give me the time of day. The tasks they are doing are fun though, aren’t they?”

Ginny nodded and looked around. As much as she wanted to be disappointed at not going home, she kind of wished she could do some of the fun things that these people were doing. Rowan walked over. “So, what do you think of Scav so far?” She asked. 

“It looks really fun!” Ginny said with a smile. “I wish I could do some of these fun tasks too!” 

Rowan grinned. “Well, if you want to do some just for fun, I wouldn’t stop you. I can go grab you a scav list. You won’t get points for it, but you’d be able to enjoy some of the fun that comes with Scav being here once a year… and only for a week! With 100 tasks, it’s a lot of work for many people to do!” 

“I’d love to see the list!” Ginny said with excitement and Rowan handed one over to her. There was many different types of tasks like:

-Sketch a skateboarding Gnarl  
-Design a first, second, third and participant trophy for your team. 80px × 80px with transparent background. All separate images  
-Place 100 Magic Mushrooms in the donation box.  
-Write a short story explaining how X-Ray Goggles and Rose Tinted Glasses work in the Adoption Center.  
-Design a banner promoting the Ay Scavenger Hunt.  
-Order a pizza and ask the staff to draw a picture of a koaf on the box. - NOTE: Only requires proof that staff was asked, NOT actual drawing!  
-Customize a doll to resemble one of the pets in your own or a teammates lair.  
-Bake a koaf.  
-Go to any fanfiction site and post a crossover fanfiction of anything + Aywas. 

Was just part of the list, but there was so many more! She looked at Rowan. “I have so many questions!” 

Rowan laughed. “I thought you might. Lay them on me.” 

“What’s a koaf? At least two of these tasks require a koaf to be present.”

“Ah, a koaf is a little creature that people actually bake! It starts out as a little dough ball and with a bit of magic and a growing life seed, they can make their little koaf come to life. They are kind of the most adorable types of food that we cannot even eat. I mean, would you eat something living like that?” Ginny made a disgusted face at the question. “No!” 

Rowan nodded, “Good. What else? She looked over the list Ginny had made and nodded. “A gnarl is a type of creature that stands on two legs. It is sometimes furry and sometimes has scales and they like to dress up! Might explain what they want for the gnarl. I mean if you can stand it on a skateboard and then sketch what you see... “ She sighed. “Ah, this is why I miss scav. Unfortunately it’s too late for myself to join on a team. Most teams have 10 people already and are not willing to accept someone else because if you go above 10, your team is eliminated.”

“So what’s a fanfiction?” Ginny asked, browsing the list once more and Rowan laughed. “A fanfiction is like when you take two characters you like, such as there was these characters in a story called Chaos and Tak and for me, I like to imagine they might be partners in a book series I like called the survivalist series. I just pretend that they belong in that world, versus their own and that makes it a crossover, because they crossed over from their series to the other. Dang, I could definitely have done that one. How many words does it say it has to be?” Ginny looked across the list to ‘requirements and read’ “50,000 words minimum. 55,000 words maximum.”

“Whoo! That’s a lot of words!” Rowan frowned. “Ok, maybe that wouldn’t be quite so fun to do in a week! There’s a task with a balloon that could be pretty easy and fun to do!” She smiled softly. “Ooh and some of these baking tasks really do look fun, and yummy! I wonder if there is a team who might let me join…” She looked over at some of the groups that didn’t have 10 people. “Would you guys be ok with…”

“You want to stay here instead of coming with us?” Ginny asked, acting sad, but in reality she was doing a happy dance inside. She was so ready for Rowan to be gone, especially because she still kept stealing side glances at Draco and it was making her quite uncomfortable! She nodded, mutely. “I think that would be fine. We were thinking of continuing this way anyways.” She said pointing at a path leading out of the fields. Rowan frowned. “Oh, that leads to the fissures. I’m not sure…” Ginny put up a hand. “We just have to keep going miss Rowan. Isn’t that a path where we could maybe find more people?”

“Well, sure but…” She turned back the way they came and Ginny shook her head. She wasn’t about to backtrack AGAIN just to lose more time trying to find a way home. And if she was going to stay here, all the better. “Alright, if you want to. I prefer not to go to the fissures anyways. I don’t particularly like the heat.”

Ginny frowned, but Rowan said no more as she went over to the groups and looked for a team she might be able to join. After a bit Draco came over and he had Flufferius on his shoulder but was holding Pygmy in his arms. “I guess their video is done?” Ginny asked. Draco nodded. “So where did Rowan go?” He asked. 

“Rowan decided she wanted to stay here and do some of this stuff. She said we could go on our own and even said the fissures were this way. Fissures have got to have some people, yeah?” Draco shrugged. “What’s a fissure?” Ginny shrugged. “I’m not sure. I figured we’d find out when we got there.” Draco nodded. “Alright then, so we’re about ready to go?” Ginny nodded her head. She was more ready now that Rowan was not going to be near and ogling Draco at all times. It was creepy enough since she seemed to be a bit older than both of them. Ginny switched the shoulder on her bag to the other side to be more comfortable. “Was there any tasks you wanted to do before we go?”

Draco shook his head. “Honestly, I am just looking forward to spending a little time with you alone.” Draco said and he held out a hand, with the other still balancing her Melo. She took the hand and looked into his eyes. He was kind and he was fun. They got along wonderfully and she wondered why he didn’t seem to have a girlfriend at home? Who wouldn’t date Draco? He had told her last night that he wasn’t a player and the funny part was, she believed him. What sort of player would be like this with her. Traveling and holding her head so she didn’t have to sleep with her head on the ground. Cuddling her and her pets and making sure both were kept happy and safe. He was showing himself to be a very kind and loving person and Ginny absolutely loved it. She leaned over and he allowed her to place a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for being so sweet.” He blushed a bright shade of red. “Um… you’re welcome?” He said, but she could tell he didn’t really get why she said it, other than to say it.

After a few more hours the sun was starting to go down. The ground beneath them was starting to turn brown and it got hotter as they walked despite the sun lowering in the sky. Ginny frowned. “Maybe this is why Rowan said she hated the heat.” Draco laughed. “You think?”

“I think I am tired, hot and sweaty and I don’t think I should lay in your arms as we sleep.” She frowned at the thought. She’d kind of gotten used to it. He just nodded. “If that is what you want.” He pulled off his shirt revealing shimmering abs that she never would have noticed without him doing so. She caught her face blushing and turned away before he could notice. Damn that boy had a nice body! Probably from all that Quidditch training! Draco walked over and gave her the orb. “May want to put our pets to bed for the night, so they don’t overheat. And then you may wanna…” He motioned taking her shirt off and Ginny could tell she was no longer the only one blushing! She looked around. There was no plants or trees to hide her, so she would just have to suffer in her robes for the night. 

He suddenly looked around as well as if also coming to the conclusion that she couldn’t take her shirt off. He saw some stuff in the distance and ran over to grab one, and then another. They were large pieces of stones that had likely fallen apart. He created a barrier. “There. Now if you stay on one side and I stay on this side, I won’t see you. I am sorry, I should have thought before I said that. It’s too hot to sleep in all the clothes.” 

She nodded and opened the tab on the side of the orb, her creature disappearing from sight. He had already done the same with Flufferius in the orb next to him. He wrapped his hands around the orb and clutched it close as he lay down on the ground and closed his eyes. She sighed and sat down next to the stone wall. He was right. It was too warm to stay fully clothed. And it was really kind of him to think of a solution and build her this little wall so that she could hide behind it and change and then sleep. She carefully removed her robe and lay it on the ground, creating a semi-soft surface, but the ground was NOT all that comfortable and then she took her shirt off, laying it beside her bag next to the wall. Her white, lacy bra dug in slightly against her shimmering from sweat skin and she decided that she needed to remove it, for her sanity. She carefully unclasped it and then tossed it towards the wall, but not noticing it went over, instead of beside her stuff. 

Draco, who was laying there with his orb suddenly felt a piece of clothing fall onto his head. He reached up and grabbed it and then realized what it was when he opened his eyes. He put a hand to his mouth. He was holding Ginny Weasley’s bra. It was lacy and actually very cute. He sat up and thought about tossing it over but then thought he might hit her, so he quietly got up and leaned over, dropping the bra onto her pile of stuff, but before he turned away he saw the thin silhouette of Ginny Weasley with her back turned to him and he watched in awe. She just had this beauty to her that he never would have noticed before. I mean, he loved her inner beauty, her strength, but he never really looked at her for her outer beauty. Her skin shimmered with sweat, but even if it was, he would probably hold her anyways… if she’d let him. He knew she probably wouldn’t. He sighed and quietly went back to his make-shift bed and lay down. Morning was there before they knew it.


	5. Fissure Frenzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If there was a place to not be, it would definitely be the fissures... as our duo was soon to learn.

Draco awoke to Ginny groaning in her sleep and turning over uncomfortably. He stood up, wanting to help her and then gasped. He’d forgotten she’d taken off her shirt and bra as he saw her perfect front side in all it’s glory. He quickly and quietly lay back down and took a moment before he decided calling her name to wake her would be best. The sun was already up, so they could definitely continue on their way. “Ginny?” Draco called, but heard no response. She groaned again and it took all his strength not to go over there. All he wanted to do was to take care of Ginevra. He called again. “Ginny!” She made one more noise, but this one was followed by. “What?” She had finally awoken. He called over. “I just heard you making some noises and wanted to make sure you were ok.” He heard her stifle a yawn. 

“I am ok.” She finally said. “I didn’t sleep very well though.It is quite hot here.”

Draco nodded. He definitely could agree to that. Now that it was daylight he could see a few miles ahead where the ground turned to all rock and there was spurts of red liquid coming out. “Are we sure we should have come this way?”

“Where else are we supposed to go?” Ginny asked and he heard her shuffling about, putting her clothes back on. He shrugged, she had a point. They needed to find their way home, which means they needed to find people who might know where they were or how they got here and how the heck they were supposed to get home. “You’re right. You almost dressed?” Ginny peaked over the edge and he noticed that she was really sweating already. He frowned. He could tell by the landscape that they were about to become even more hot than they already were. He saw a pond and grabbed the jar from the egg that Ginny had and filled it up with water. “We’ll probably need this.” He said. She just nodded, looking dumbfounded. “I didn’t even think of that!’ She said and he laughed. “Well, it’s a man’s job to think up how to take care of the woman. It’s the woman’s job to take care of the man.” But the way Ginny’s eyes heated and her lips pursed he knew what he said was wrong. “I’m joking!” He said, raising his hands in defense. “We’re going to take care of each other. We’re a team.” He said and she looked thoughtful and then nodded. 

He smiled, glad to be back on her good side. “At least I have you on my team.” He said. “Potter would have screwed me over or left me behind.” Ginny thought for a couple seconds and then nodded. “Yes, he probably would have.” She grabbed her stuff and threw on her cloak, which Draco could see already was a bad idea. He walked over to her. “Can I do something to help make this day easier?” She raised an eyebrow and then nodded. He grabbed the cloak and wrapped it around her waist. He then carefully unbuttoned the top three buttons of her shirt. “You may not be able to go shirtless like me, but at least you can do that. We don’t want you to get dehydrated. Ginny just nodded, dumbfounded. She had to admit, Draco, sweaty and without a shirt was the best possible sight for her. She could feel herself tighten a bit in response to that body. She’d had physical attraction before, but this was something new. Attraction to someone who, at least for the time being, was forced to be with her in this hot, arid environment WITHOUT A SHIRT. Most girls would swoon at the sight!

She walked over to him and instead of grabbing his hand, she grabbed him by the waist, surprising both him and herself. She was becoming a little bolder, which she knew could either be a really good thing, or really bad! She found herself watching him more than not as they started walking. Both had chosen to keep their pets in their orbs. It didn’t seem right to make them suffer this heat alongside them. Draco wrapped his arm around Ginny’s waist, slightly raising her shirt to touch her skin. 

Now, Draco had started falling for Ginny nearly the first year. Yeah, she was a little weird and she was Ron’s sister, but something about her attracted him. He didn’t know if it was the way she stuck her neck out for her friends or how she seemed to always be looking out for something better? Hell, she’d even befriended Riddle’s diary that first year of hers. Her dad had explained to him after what he’d done, how he’d left the diary in Ginny’s cauldron as they’d gone shopping. He explained how, despite everything, Riddle’s inner voice would not talk to or interact with him, even though he was on the “right side.” Little did he know, there was more to it. The riddle in that diary was a young boy, in his teens in school. He probably wouldn’t have talked to anyone out of school, but Ginny had discovered this the hard way. She had seen that she’d had a journal and started writing in it for support in a time when she was just learning to find herself. Draco heard through sources that she had somehow “Become his friend. Hell, he even wrote a love poem for her for Potter.” Of course, the fact that it was for Potter had pissed him off. Ginny hadn’t even noticed him at this point. Hadn’t noticed the way the 12 year old boy looked at her, wanting her attention. 

The next year, Draco knew that his chances for her had all but been dashed. He once tried to talk to her on the way to class and all that happened was he got blown off. But the way she did it was not to say, “I don’t like you Malfoy.” Like Potter, Weasley and Granger had, but she just ignored him. She was playing hard to get and he knew it. He had decided in that moment that he was going to find a way to make Little Miss Ginevra Weasley his. And this year he had finally gotten her attention enough for her to at least ask him to play Quidditch. That was a step in the right direction. What he didn’t expect however was that when she kissed his cheek, he’d feel as though lightning had struck him to his core. He looked at Ginny with new eyes. This young girl with a lot going on was going to need more, was going to need wooing. He had already decided to go after her before that, but after that he knew he actually had a chance. Maybe that was all he needed to know.

He looked over at the girl beside him, looking at her wider face and her chipmunk cheeks. She had this beautifully rounded face that he just wanted to kiss all over. He stopped and pulled her to a stop. They’d finally made it to the red rocks he’d seen and while he didn’t relish crossing them, he knew that he would because he had Ginny by his side. She looked at him, kind of breathless as he leaned down and kissed her running a thumb across her cheek and then running his hand down the side of her face, finally settling on her neck in a possessive sort of manner. She kissed him back fully, melting, but not because of the heat, but because of the boy next to her taking initiative to kiss her so passionately. She didn’t want the kiss to ever end. Finally he let go and looked her in the eyes. “You are very special to me.” He finally said. “You are amazing and perfect and kind. Please… just try to let this happen.”

“Let what happen?” Ginny asked, confused but nonresistant as he kissed her again and again. He held her very close. “I just want to see what can happen.” Is all he said in response. 

Ginny suddenly felt light, airy. It was like all the heat around her was her heart's burning desire as she looked at him. Whatever this was, she wanted to see it through. She nodded breathlessly and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her until they couldn’t help but to come up for air. When they did, a lot of time had already passed, but Ginny did not care. She was completely happy in this moment. She decided then and there that she would be open to whatever happening with Draco Malfoy, so long as he didn’t lead her on.

Draco clasped her hand in his as they stepped forward and walked across the hot lands, avoiding the spurts of red liquid. The further they got, the darker it became but not because there was no sun. No, the ash and dry heat had created dark cloudlike appearance and it blocked out the sun. As they got further in, Ginny saw some buildings that looked like they were falling apart. However, even from where they stood, in one of them a fresh fountain of water was squirting up. Ginny ran into the building and sipped some of the water, relishing at how cool it was. In this heat, anything cool was a blessing. He saw that the flooring at least hadn’t been ravaged by these lands and he sat down, pouring some of the water on his chest and hair before opening his orb to allow his Reve to drink some water and it jumped in and started floating at the top, singing harmoniously as it moved it’s little legs, splashing them slightly. Ginny took this moment to let Pygmy go and play too. It wasn’t just them here and they weren’t about to let their pets be hurt in the balls because of the heat.

There was sounds of footsteps and a boy with leaf-like orange hair and a quite revealing outfit stepped out from behind the shadows of a corner. “Hello there! I see you’ve found the energy fountain! It’s a wonder for humans and pets alike to give energy even when sometimes it’s hard to move. It moves around sometime… magic and all.” His face darkened a bit by those words. “It must mean you really needed it. Have you lot been to the fissures before?” Ginny shook her head and the boy nodded. “Well, I am Tataio and I live around here. My friends all call me crazy but I kind of like the heat. It keeps me busy since my main job is as a healer and because of the lava spurts, well, let’s just say that there’s a lot of injuries here. But what brings you guys to the fissures? Not many people come here unless they are looking for something specific.”

“We’re… um. Looking to go home.” Ginny said. Draco nodded in agreement, urging her on. “There has to be a city with a lot of people somewhere around here and me and my friend Draco are looking for it so that someone can tell us how to get home.”

“Where is your home?” Tataio asked, watching their faces. 

“England.” Ginny said hopefully but Tataio shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it. The closest city would probably be Ay town. To get there from this point though, you’d either want to go back that way…” He pointed to where they’d come from and Ginny shook her head. They’d already come too far across this land to go back. He just nodded. “Or keep going this way towards the East River. From there you can probably take a boat to get to Ay town, but don’t quote me on that.”

Ginny nodded and looked across the land. She couldn’t see much so she wasn’t sure how much further they had to go. Tataio must have sensed her hesitancy, because he shrugged a bit and said, “I guess I can show you at least to there? The river isn’t my favorite place. I much prefer dry lands…” Ginny looked around. You couldn’t really get any drier, could you? “But I can definitely show you the way. In fact, you could probably have you Reve lead the way. That melo however…” He pointed to the orb. “You probably only want one pet to lead you at a time anyways. Maybe you could have the Melo come out when you’re at the river. It would enjoy the puppy-paddling anyways, but the Reve’s actually like this heat.”

Draco raised an eye. He wasn’t sure how much he trusted this Tataio dude, especially when he noticed Ginny looking at his pale chest with orange-like markings on his legs, probably tattoos. He watched Tataio grab a bag and a flask of the water before motioning for them to follow. Ginny eagerly followed after putting her Melo away and Draco could feel his jealousy rising. What was Ginevra playing at? Was she trying to make him jealous? Or was she seriously that naive that she didn’t know any better than to follow a man with less clothes on than him (and that took talent). He followed along and before long she had grabbed his hand once more, which confused the fuck out of Draco. Until he saw a woman heading towards them with minimal clothing, badass armor and straight red hair down to… well, there. “Excuse me.” She said kindly, the voice of an angel. “I’m really hungry. Could you find me something to eat?” Draco wanted to say yes so badly but Tataio was already holding out some food from his bag. “Here you are lovely.”

She smiled at him with a twinkle in her eye that made Draco jealous. He frowned. Why was he feeling like this towards this woman he had never met? He looked over at Ginny who obviously saw something on his face she didn’t like. He leaned over and kissed her. ‘She’s mine.’ He told himself. ‘I don’t want anyone else but her.’ Telling himself that seemed to work. When he looked back, the woman didn’t look quite as attractive in the same way. She still looked the same, but it wasn’t as distracting as before. Tataio was still fawning over her and had pulled out a few vials from which she happily drank, asking him to take a sip first to prove that they were safe. He happily agreed to all her her demands. Draco frowned. Something didn’t seem right. He walked over to Tataio. “Think we should keep going?” He asked and the woman looked down at him with a fury he’d never seen on a woman’s face before. “We were talking here, Little Boy.” She said and turned back to Tataio who looked like he’d just come out of a trance. He was looking at the two of them with confusion and then realization. “Yes, yes, we really must be going. It was nice meeting you miss!” 

Tataio led them away and then turned to Draco. “Thank you! Usually I am really good at avoiding the sirens call, but sometimes they just catch you off-guard. The sirens in this part of the world like to ask for food and then once they have it they try to convince you to give them other things. It’s a dangerous pattern if you don’t watch out for it. I apologize for wasting so much of your time. We are nearly to the river.” 

As they walked they ran across a man with long white hair, a much brighter shade than Draco’s blonde hair that made it seem almost unreal. He had a tight-fitting shirt on and red armors and a red face mask that went off to both sides, almost like ears. “You must answer some questions to pass my depths!” He said and Draco looked at Ginny, who looked just as nervous as he did. What kind of questions would this person ask them and what kind of answers could he be looking for? He looked at them, “Ready?” He asked. 

Tataio nodded. “Bring it on.” The man laughed and then shook his head. “No, not you! Your friends only! If they cannot answer my questions, then they should not get to pass.”

Tataio frowned, obviously knowing they didn’t know anything about the land.  
Let's see how well you know our homeland. What species of pet is this?  
Quite a hot-tempered little Insi.  
Be quick about it. I don't have all day  
Ginny frowned. She didn’t know anything about these creatures! The guy looked annoyed when they didn’t answer right away and finally said, “Fine, I’ll give you multiple choices to choose from. Ready? Magma Insi. Cobweb weaver Insi. Bee Lacer. Or Maggot Insi?”

Ginny thought about the clue he had given. Hot tempered could be any of the creatures he had listed, but the lacer stood out because it wasn’t an insi. So that left her with the cobweb weaver insi, which if you messed with it’s web would probably get angry, therefore hot-tempered. Or the maggot insi, which… honestly, if she was a maggot she would probably be angry all day long too. But if the man was taking this literally he could mean the Magma insi. Before she could open her mouth the man scoffed. “Taking your time. That’s one point against you! Let’s count that at negative one! You need three correct to pass me. If you get to negative 3 then you can turn your asses around and go back across the lands!” 

Tataio frowned and she could tell he was disappointed that they hadn’t answered. She looked at Draco who shrugged. “I didn’t know if he was taking it literally or figuratively.” Ginny nodded. “Me either. I guess we might just have to guess and hope we’re right next time.”

The man laughed. “Oh, so you’re ready to ACTUALLY give an answer now. Let’s try this again.” 

Let's see how well you know our homeland. What species of pet is this?  
These fiery birds are very similar to the phoenix.  
Be quick about it. I don't have all day  
“Is it the Lava Tiger Melo, Solar Reve, Fire eye lacer or fire eye lacer?” Ginny raised an eye, confused why two answers were the same, but that eliminated both of them. She knew the Melo wasn’t a bird so she quickly answered, “Solar Reve.” At the same time as Draco. 

He raised an eye. “You’re right, I’m impressed. You can have this as a prize.” He said and dug out some blue paws, which Ginny allowed him to stick in her bag. “So that puts your score back at zero.”At their raised eyes he said. “Well you didn’t think I’d go easy on you, did you? Alright, my next question.”

Let's see how well you know our homeland. What species of pet is this?  
They are usually found in large groups, clustered together.  
Be quick about it. I don't have all day

“Is it a solar reve, a copper swirl rogr, a fire leo lacer or a hotfoot lacer?” 

Ginny had no idea, which was good because Draco decided to take a guess with “Copper swirl Rogr?”

He looked impressed at how quickly they answered and nodded. “You are at one point now. You need two more to get past me. Think you can do it?” Draco grinned. “I think we can.” The man laughed. “Don’t get ahead of yourselves. He seemed to think to himself for a moment before asking:

Let's see how well you know our homeland. What species of pet is this?  
These actually come in many different colors, but lately all Ay residents have been seeing are purple-blue ones.  
Be quick about it. I don't have all day

“Is it the flamespark maki, the iris vyne, the red wine maki or the flamespark maki.”

Once again the man confused Ginny. If he was coming up with these questions off the top of his head, why was he naming the same one off twice? Perhaps he forgot what other answers he gave before? Or maybe he was trying to make it easier for them. But by hearing the question, she knew that an iris was a type of flower with many different colors but clumps of them sometimes happened together, so she answered, “Iris Vyne.” The man was about to speak, probably to say they’d taken too long when he nodded. “Lucky. I thought you were going to lost a point there. You are now at two points.” Everytime he gave them a point, he put a bit more bp into her bag. She wasn’t complaining. Who would with money? She watched him come up with another question. Hopefully their last one. 

 

Let's see how well you know our homeland. What species of pet is this?  
Quite a hot-tempered little Insi.  
Be quick about it. I don't have all day  
“Magma Insi. Cobweb weaver Insi. Bee Lacer. Or Maggot Insi?” Ginny was surprised to hear the question they’d been asked already again, but she answered more quickly this time. “Magma Insi?” She asked and he grinned. “There you go girl. I knew you could get the answer all along. Here’s a little more bp to send you along your way! Next time, don’t be so scared. Usually my questions are easy enough to guess… although I admit, watching you get scared out of your minds is kind of amusing.” Tataio crossed his arms. “You really should have been kinder to our guests. What if you had scared them off?”

“Then they’d have gone back where they came from.”

“That’s the problem. They don’t know how to get back to where they came from. They are on their way to Ay town to see if they can make their way back.” 

The man frowned. “Oh, sorry friends. It was just a little fun. I hope you didn’t actually mind.” Ginny frowned. Yes, the man had wasted time, but he hadn’t meant to. It was definitely going to be dark when they got to the river now, but what could they do? She shook her head. “Can we just go now?” The man nodded, “of course of course! Enjoy Ay kiddos!”

Draco grabbed Ginny’s hand. “You were really good.”

“Except that first question. I didn’t know if he meant angry or actual hot. Thank gods I got it right the second time.” Draco nodded. “You’re really smart Gin.” 

She smiled, her cheeks flushing a bit. “T-thanks.” She had to admit. She liked being complimented by Draco Malfoy. As they continued along the path a melo crossed them and jumped up playfully at the Reve and the reve flew down, landing on it’s shoulder. It ran around with the reve on it’s shoulder for about five minutes. Finally it looked like the Melo was ready to be on it’s way. “Wasn’t that cute.” Tataio said. “Sometimes I think it’s easier for animals to become friends than humans.” Ginny nodded. She could see that. 

A woman stopped them a little bit later and looked Ginny up and down. “I think I have something you might like miss. Would you want to spend some BP to find out what it is? There’s no refunds though if you don’t like it!”

Ginny frowned. “Why won’t you tell me what it is?”

“Sometimes, we like to bring stuff out of the markets in towns to give a discount to people. However we can’t give a discount on everything, so we offer something we know someone will like either way, but it might be worth more or less than we are offering. In this case, it’s 4,599BP.” Ginny frowned and pulled out her hotel key card. “Was that what this is for?” She asked and the lady’s eyes went wide. “Oh, I’m sorry miss. I didn’t realize you had a discount card! That would make your total today 3450BP today! What do you say?”

Ginny frowned. Was it worth spending her BP on? She did have a lot more now than when she started. And she’d made at least that much by answering questions for the fellow. She nodded. “Alright, you’ve got me. I’ll purchase your mystery item please!” 

The lady smiled, waved her hand over Ginny’s bag and collected the coins by putting them in her own bag of withholding, then she walked over to the side of a small ledge and grabbed a ruined column from an old torn down building. “Here you go! Thank you for your business!” Before Ginny could respond, the girl ran off. 

Tataio who hadn’t said anything at this point had his face in his hands, laughing. “I’m sorry! That was too funny!”

Ginny frowned. “That was not cool!”

“Well, I will say, unlike some of them she was very honest. She didn’t EXACTLY lie about what she was doing. But I will say, if you get the chance there is an item you can buy called the invisible item seer that will actually show you if the merchant has something on them by flashing green for yes and red for no. You can keep it pretty well hidden under a sleeve or something. It helps do wonders because sometimes they really are selling something good and other times... “ He began to giggle. “They do just that. I’d say until you have one on you, I wouldn’t buy anymore items from them.” 

Ginny nodded with a frown. “I guess.” 

“Anyways.” Tataio said. “Look where we are.” Ginny looked around as the haze and fog disappeared and she noticed they were on a beach of a river.. She frowned, but was more than relieved to be out of the fissures. She walked over to the water and washed her face off. She then took her shoes off and dipped her feet in. It felt like heaven. She looked over at Draco. “Wanna go for a swim?” Draco looked at her and nodded and she began to shed her shirt and her pants, leaving on her bra and panties. If she’d been paying attention she would have seen both Tataio and Draco exchange a look, but Tataio took that moment to turn around and head back. Draco however wasn’t about to miss out on this. A good time with Ginny Weasley half-naked. He took his own pants off and put his stuff to the side, attached to a branch. He was left in green silk-like boxers. He stepped in and felt the cold water seeping into his skin, removing the traces of sweat. So he went deeper, allowing the water to cover him up to his boxers. 

Ginny ran over to him and jumped forward dunking her head and coming up dripping wet. He could feel himself starting to blush so he quickly made sure to dunk his own head and swim around her, ignoring the bulge that was beginning to form in his boxers. Ginny ran over and pulled Draco close, luckily from behind and pulled him into the water with her, which began an all out play fight in the water. It was dark and harder to see many details, but Draco would never forget the way her eyes sparkled in the moonlight as she looked at him. In this moment, everything was perfect.


	6. Rivers make for horrible Roadways!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two find themselves quite confused on how to cross the river...

When daylight broke Draco could barely remember the night before. They had worn each other out with playing in the river and then finally going to lay down next to each other, with his arm under her head. He liked being the pillow for Ginny. Actually, anything he could do to take care of her, he would. He found himself mesmerized by the beauty as she turned over in his arms, still clad only in her panties and bra. It had felt right, because it was still very hot even at this river because of how close they were to the fissures. He cuddled her closely in the morning air when they began hearing birds and other noises that had shown the world had awaken. Draco carefully turned his head, trying not to wake Ginny to see his Reve playing in the water with another Reve with purple wing feathers, a blue body and hearts all along it. Fitting. It almost seemed as though his reve had found love along the same time that Draco had. He had to admit, he was fully in love with Ginny and couldn’t see himself with anyone else. But would she ever feel the same way? 

Ginny yawned and sat up, looking over at the two birds. “Oh how cute!” Ginny said, looking at the little bird that was playing with his. It hopped over and looked at her. She looked at it and then said, “Do you want to go with us?” The little Reve bobbed it’s head up and down and trilled excitedly. Ginny smiled and turned to Draco. “It looks like we’ve found a bit of a friend.” 

Draco laughed and nodded. “As long as you take it. I don’t really need another Reve because before you know it, I’d have my own hoard of Reves.” 

Ginny laughed at the idea of Draco being surrounded by baby birds he’d have to take care of. Draco raised an eye. “What?” 

“N-nothing.” Ginny said, as she reached down and let the little Reve hop onto her shoulder. “It is so precious!” She said. She loved the little hearts on it’s feathers as a design. She placed a finger on it running across one as the Reve trilled excitedly and nuzzled into her hair. Ginny giggled. She then sighed and looked at the River in front of her. There was an island ahead but she didn’t know how close that was to the town they were trying to get to and there was also a current if they got any further than 20 feet out. “How are we getting across?”

Draco’s face fell slightly. “You know, I didn’t think about that. Maybe if we follow the land we’ll find a boat?”

“You know, boats are hard to come by in Ay.” A voice said and Draco and Ginny both looked around confused until they heard a splash in the water and looked down to see a boy with blue hair and gills looking up at them with big orange eyes. He looked unreal. He swam forward a bit and stood up, but as he came closer they saw he had both a tail and legs. He was like the perfect merman. He could speak english and walk on land! Ginny frowned. “So we won’t be able to find one? We need to get over to Ay town.”

“Ohhhh!” The boy smiled, polite. “I am sure I have friends nearby who can help out. I heard there was some rather… interesting… characters traveling through Ay this past week. My friend Rowan said you might have made it past the Fissures and would try to swim across. It gets pretty treacherous I must say and that’s even for me with my tail.” He splashed the water around him in mock exaggeration. “But there is definitely always a way to cross the river. Just don’t fall of the edge. You may find yourself in Ara if you do and getting back to Ay then is just… troublesome!” 

Ginny frowned and nodded as if she knew what this boy meant. He climbed out of the water, his tail dragging a bit behind him as he walked closer to the two. “I’m Dylan by the way.” He said with an innocent and kind smile. “Would you two like my help?”

Ginny held out a hand and the boy shook it excitedly. He seemed so young, maybe even younger than her! He held a small pot in one hand and Ginny wondered what it was for. He noticed her looking. “Oh, this is my water bucket. When I am on land I get dehydrated very quickly. This bucket allows me to pour water over myself whenever I need to. It comes in quite handy sometimes.”

Ginny nodded as the boy turned to shake Draco’s hand and then looked at the two. “So you two just need a boat to get across? Have either of you two actually used a boat before?” Draco shook his head and Ginny did too and the boy groaned. “Well, this will be fun. Give me an hour and I will be back and then we’ll figure out a plan, ok?”

Ginny nodded as the boy walked into the water, got deep enough and then jumped in swimming beneath the water once more. “Well he seems…”

“Interesting?” Draco provided. Ginny nodded. “Although I was thinking overly helpful. Why did Rowan contact him to help us? Or maybe the question should be how?”

“You question how the only true magical being we’ve found can contact someone we don’t know in some way that we don’t understand?”

Ginny frowned. “Hush you. What will we do for the next hour?”

“I was thinking… swim?” Draco suggested, nudging her to notice that she was still only in her bra and panties. She looked down and screamed in frustration. Draco just laughed, causing her face to not only be red with embarrassment, but a bit of anger too. Why did he not point it out to her when Dylan had made his way over. She cringed and sighed. “FINE!’ She said, “Let’s just fucking swim. But why didn’t you tell me that I wasn’t dressed when Dylan was here?”

 

Draco shrugged. “I thought you looked fine. Hell, you are wearing just as much as the sirens in the fissures.”

“I am not a siren!” Ginny growled. Draco frowned. “Yousureseemlikeonetome.” He mumbled something she couldn’t quite make out. “What?” He shook his head. “Nothing Gin. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t realize it was that big of a deal. I mean, you definitely don’t need to be shy about your body. And it’s not like the kid even noticed. He was either too young or too unhuman to see the special person in front of him in all her glory.”

Ginny’s face flushed red. “I-uh…” He stepped forward and kissed her, holding her close. “Let’s go swim.”

Ginny and Draco were out in the water for a little less than an hour when they saw a bluefin coming towards them, boat in tow. Ginny jumped out of the water and went over to her clothes, throwing on her top and bottoms, and wrapping her robe around her waist. When Dylan swam up, he left the boat alongside the shore. “Here you are. Now, I decided that I would help to get your boat across.”

Ginny smiled happily. “Thank you Dylan. I am glad you are here to help us.”

“I am glad too.” Draco said. He walked over and wrapped an arm around Ginny possessively. She frowned. Why was he being more possessive now than he was before? They both walked over to grab their stuff and then walked over to the boat. As they settled inside, Dylan pointed to the long wooden sticks in the boat. “You will want to use those to push off and then off we go!” One of the Reves settled on a wooden bar in the middle of the boat. Ginny and Draco were facing each other, but since Ginny had climbed in first, it was up to her to push off from the ground. She grabbed the wooden stick and pushed it into the land near the beach, but it just squished into the red sand from the edge. She frowned. She pushed harder and finally the boat began to push into the water and she had to have Draco help to pull the stick out from the land. Dylan had a hand over his mouth and Ginny was almost sure he was laughing at them.

Once they got a little into the water, the pull of the river began to pull them downwards and Ginny’s eyes went wide. There were rocks scattered throughout the river that Dylan hadn’t thought to mention. Or perhaps didn’t think they’d get to them if the boat would move in a straight sort of manner at all. Dylan grabbed the edge of the boat, using his tail pushed hard against the current. Ginny put a stick in and swished it the opposite direction, hoping that would help out in the least as Draco also grabbed his. They felt like they were wasting time and energy as they moved closer to the rocks. Finally they got to a semi-calm area of the river and Dylan frowned. “That did not go as planned. That brought us more down river than I was hoping to. I didn’t realize how strong the current would be with the two of you in the boat, because without you two, it just floated so simply to my speed.” He looked downriver. “If we don’t want to end up in Ara, we’re going to need to come up with a different plan. We’re so close to the midpoint and once we pass that, wherever we land you will be anyone’s guess. I had hoped to get you straight to Ay Town, but that doesn’t seem to be a possibility at this point.” He grabbed one of their sticks and jumped in, tilting the boat a bit, but not enough to tip it. 

“This is how I want you to row.” He said and showed them a few simple strokes that would help them to at the very least go straight from where they were. “And then I want you to…” Suddenly they heard the cry of a creature and Dylan looked over to see a purple creature with a ringed tail of darker purple sitting on a ledge of a downed tree in the middle of the river. The water flowed around it, higher at times as the river moved in motion to the events inside it. Ginny was about to jump out to go help it when Dylan jumped out and swam, using his tail as force and his feet to anchor him as he got near. The creature cried out, it’s fur stuck out in a nervous gesture. Dylan hummed to the creature, but it didn’t want to move. Ginny and Draco pushed the boat a little closer, staying in the section of the river that wasn’t moving as much but getting as close as they could. They got within five feet when the creature lept over, causing the boat to shake and rock, but not quite enough to tilt over. Ginny sighed in relief and watched as it burrowed into itself, putting it’s tail over it’s eyes. 

“Oh, you poor thing!” Ginny said with a frown. She reached down and placed a hand on it. It shifted to look at her, but didn’t move much beyond that. It was terrified and not in the mood to get out if it, it seemed. She whispered to it, gently. “You’re ok little critter. You do not have to be afraid.”

Dylan leaned over the edge. “It’s a purple panda maki. I don’t know how it landed out here in the middle of the river though.” He frowned. “I guess there is a chance that it went to get food for itself and got swept into the river and was only able to catch itself on the fallen tree. But, that should not have happened.” Whatever the case, the poor creature looked scared out of it’s mind. Ginny continued to pet it, whispering calmly to it until it calmed down a bit and looked around curiously. It sniffed her and then went over to sniff Draco, both of which made no sudden moved because they wanted it to trust them. Suddenly it ran over to Ginny and ran up her leg, curling into her bunched up robe on her lap. She gasped and then laughed. “Well, hello there. You are just a cutie!” The critter looked up at her with wide eyes. She wasn’t sure if it knew exactly what she was saying, so she decided on asking a direct question. “Are you ok little critter?”

It looked around and then settled on her. It’s head bobbing up and down. She smiled. “Good.”

Dylan nodded to her bag and Ginny frowned. She picked up the orb to see if that’s what he was referring to and he nodded. She looked at the critter on her lap. “Would you want to continue traveling with us?” The maki or manky, whatever Dylan had called it nodded once more and nudged at the orb in her hand. She opened the latch carefully and with that, BOTH the reve and the manky had disappeared. She frowned, but Dylan nodded. 

“It’s quite easy to tell that the little guy needed it’s rest. It was just lucky we were around!” Ginny nodded, surprised by the ease at which the creatures here seemed to trust in the people. What if she was a bad person? ‘At least I’m not’ Ginny thought and looked back at Dylan. “Are you going to come back in?” She asked. He shook his head. “I believe that now that you guys know how to move the oars, we might be able to make some progress at least closer to the town. Push as hard as you can when we reach the currents so that you guys don’t go drifting towards the edge of Ay again. I will not be responsible if you go over.” He said and crossed his arms defiantly. She nodded mutely, not sure if that was a threat or perhaps even a promise. This little boy was not one to be messed with, was he? 

Ginny moved the oar carefully, pushing them back towards the direction they were going, the current starting up again. She pushed harder and Draco pushed too and they felt themselves drifting at a slightly more even pace. They still were moving down river, but hopefully not at a level which would cause them to go over the Ay edge, whatever that meant! She had heard of stories as a kid about how if she walked off of her parents property she would find herself looking at the edge of the world and if she got too close, she would fall off! This being told by her brothers of course! She didn’t know why but she had believed them all the way until she’d turned 11. She thought floo powder was the only way to get past that edge. She remembered how long and how loud she’d yelled at them when she found out the truth. They’d only been trying to keep her safe, she knew that, but it didn’t mean it made her any happier! She didn’t like that she got picked on constantly growing up. Of course, it wasn’t only her Fred and George liked to pick on. Ron got a good brunt of it too. 

Draco groaned slightly as they hit a rock and Dylan coughed. “Not there yet, but…” He pointed over to the island he had led them to. “This is a safe spot to stop for a bit, get our settings and then you’ll be able to go again in the morning.”

“We’re stopping?” Ginny frowned. She didn’t like the idea of making them wait one more day just to get to the town. Dylan nodded. “I am getting tired. It’s a lot of work to swim with you two in the boat. I suggest that in the morning you let the current take you to the edge. We’re close, but nowhere near close to Ay Town. I was going to see if I could get someone a little bit better coordinated on land to help you out.” 

“Like who!?” Ginny asked, worried that he’d in fact be going to get Rowan once more. She did not like the idea of that at all.”

 

He frowned and stared at her. “I-I’m not sure. I need to go ask my friends nearby. I don’t think I will be much help for you guys.”

Ginny’s face showed what looked like betrayal and he appologized once more. “Just get to the edge, but wait til morning. Some… not so fun creatures come out into the water at night.”

That stopped Ginny from pushing for them to continue tonight. But she did ask. “What about the boat?”

“Leave it at the edge of wherever it lands in the morning and I will grab it and swim it back upriver to my friend. Empty, it should be a lot simpler.” 

Draco nodded. “I guess that will work.” He said with a frown. Dylan nodded and jumped in the water, disappearing from sight. 

“Well, that was useless.” Ginny frowned.

“Not quite.” Draco said. “Look over there.” She looked and could see lights in the distance upstream. So that was where they needed to go. “If we can get that last bit of distance across, I know we can walk there.”

 

“How?” Ginny asked, frustrated. 

“Trust me?”Draco asked and pulled her close, placing a kiss on her lips. 

“You know you can’t just expect a kiss to fix everything!” Ginny said, but she had to admit, it did calm her down some. And relaxed she could see the edge of the land they needed to make it to. Trees in the distance. She just hoped that they could make it there without Dylan. 

“No.” Draco said. “But we can use these.” He said and pulled his wand out of his robe. “And I think we’ll move better with them than without. I didn’t want to pull it out while Dylan was around in case he didn’t know what a wand was and in this land, I don’t know what is legal and what’s not and what we’ll be fined for when we get back.”

Ginny nodded, a dumbfounded look on her face. “So why aren’t we going tonight?” She asked, raring to get moving.

“I don’t know what kinds of creatures there may be, but if a citizen of Ay says that the creatures are too dangerous to go out at night, I trust them!” Draco said. He pulled their boat further onto land and placed his reve inside it’s orb. “We should sleep now before we go in the morning.”

Ginny nodded. Draco walked over and grabbed some tree leaves and made a small cot-like structure for Ginny. “For you, m’lady.” 

Ginny raised an eye. “Ever the smooth one, aren’t you?”

“I try to be.” Draco answered. He then lay down next to it, allowing her to lay down as she yawned. “I can’t wait to get home.” She said as she drifted off.

Draco however frowned at the thought. If they went home, this ended. The kissing, the hand holding, the cuddling. She would go back to her friends and he supposed he would go back to his. But he liked this. Yeah, it wasn’t ideal conditions and it definitely wasn’t what a Malfoy was used to, but he liked being out here with one Ginevra Weasley. He looked up into her face with the moon reflecting it’s light off of it and sighed. She looked gorgeous, the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. Would he ever have someone like that to be his? Those were some of the last thoughts he had as he went to sleep.


	7. Why isn't this forest forbidden?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Draco and Ginny reach the rainforest they soon discover that some people and plants are probably better best to be avoided...

Ginny found herself struggling to get over the weeds and vines beneath her as she climbed out of the boat and into what looked to be a forest with tall trees. She was just glad to be out of the water and onto safe dry land. She grabbed Draco’s hand as he hoisted her up and over a tree branch that had fallen into the water close to where they were. She jumped over a vine that was strewn across a poorly made or possibly hardly used path that led into the forest. She breathed a sigh and walked forward to where she already saw chests hidden in trees, under branches and throughout, but then she heard a loud, “Whoo” noise and paused. What kind of creature made that noise? The noise happened again and she turned back to look at Draco, who had wide eyes as well. It was obvious he also was slightly worried about the noise. “Should we have Pygmy come out to defend us?” Draco nodded mutely. He looked slightly terrified. Ginny laughed, as scared as she felt, she didn’t look as ridiculous as him in this moment. He looked at her like she’d grown two heads. “Why are you laughing?!” He asked. Ginny shrugged. “You look cute.” She finally admitted and reached into her bag to grab the orb. She opened the clasp and out came the purple Manky or whatever it was that Dylan had called it. She frowned. Was her beautiful Melo tired or just not want to come out now that she had found friends for her?

“Manky?” She asked and it looked at her. She smiled softly. “Can you help us out? There’s a weird noise out here.” The creature looked at her and nodded, it’s little head bobbing in an odd sort of fashion. She pointed towards where the noise was coming from and the manky ran forward, pouncing like a ferret over the vines. She followed close with Draco holding her shirt so he didn’t lose her in the forest. 

She almost nabbed one of the chests nearby but thought better of it. She needed to stick close to the creature, since it had decided to come with her in the first place. She wasn’t about to let it get hurt, even though it was probably more used to these locations than she was, she still didn’t trust letting it go off on it’s own. What if it left her? 

Draco followed behind but also kept close. Suddenly from above they heard a klak klak klak noise and a brown creature hopped down. It stood on two legs and had two big claws. It had brown spots and orange stripes over it’s darker back and a floofy brown tail. Ginny squealed and backed up as the purple Manky leaped in front of it and made a very beautiful cawing noise that almost sounded like a song. The creature in front of it swished slightly to the left and then to the right as it’s eyes drooped and it fell asleep. Ginny smiled and picked up the Manky. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She whispered to it and cuddled it close. It curled up in her arms and watched her with affection as it began to clean it’s fur. She walked past the sleeping critter and Draco did as well, passing onto a path that continued into the forest. She hoped it was the right way! Suddenly the Whoo sound they heard when they first reached the edge of the forest was heard again. Suddenly a rainbow creature passed in front of them on the path. It looked up then kept moving across the path. 

Ginny sighed in relief. This one didn’t want to attack them at least! She felt her breath catch though when she heard a branch in front of her break. A girl stepped forward out between the trees. “Oh, hello there!” She said. She had grey hair and a gray furry jacket with brown straps across it and a bell. As she walked it jingled quietly. “I’m Miska. Are you two traveling these lands?”

Draco nodded. “Yes, we’re looking for the Ay town. A boy named Dylan said if we reached the land we’d make it there, but it seems we might have missed our target.” Miska laughed. “You missed it by a little ways! It will take us over a day to reach there! Are you sure you’re up for it?” 

“Does it matter if we’re not? We still need to get there, won’t we?” 

She shrugged. “I suppose that is true. I like your purple panda Maki!” She said spotting the Manky (Maki?) in her arms. 

“Oh, maki! I thought it was Manky. It responded to that when I called it that earlier.” The girl shook her head and reached out her arms and Ginny handed the Maki over to her. 

“It probably thought that was it’s name. Have you called it anything else?” Ginny shook her head. “Well then, you’re probably stuck with it. It is kind of cute anyways that you thought it was called Manky.” 

Ginny frowned and looked at the critter in her arms. Was it cute or disappointing that Manky was now it’s name? She wasn’t sure. Miska looked at Draco and she noticed a spark in Miska’s eyes that she didn’t like. Oh no, this one wasn’t going to steal him either. She grabbed Draco around the waist and kissed him. He looked at her with shock and then laughed. “Another girl pops up and you think you have to lay your claim on me? She isn’t going to try to steal me Ginevra. I’m your boyfriend.” Ginny frowned. Miska put a hand over her mouth and Ginny could tell she was grinning. 

Ginny frowned. “What are you grinning at?” She asked defensively. 

Miska frowned suddenly, not liking being told off apparently. She shook her head. “Sorry, sorry! Should we get going?” 

Ginny didn’t really like that she probably had a crush on Draco, but at least she seemed to have a bit of respect for them. She turned towards the path they were going to take and shook her head. “This will only lead you deeper into the forest towards a pyramid. Unless you’re sightseeing and want to spend two days in the forest, I recommend this path.” She pointed to a spot between the trees, which didn’t make a path so much, but at least she knew where they were going so Ginny decided to trust her. 

After a few hours Ginny felt hungry so she stopped at a tree with a heart shaped fruit looked good and handed one to Draco. He took it happily and chomped into it. “Delicious.” He said appreciatively. Miska noticed the exchange and paused. “Oh, are you hungry? I have something the two of you might like. Let me just grab it out of…” She reached into her pocket and Ginny noticed the coats pockets went deeper than she thought as she pulled out a bag of brown snacks cut into squares. It had greens in it, some sort of plant and Ginny frowned. Unless it was a mint or something she doubted it would be all that good. Still, she took it as Miska offered, but warned. “Just don’t eat too many. Hash brownies have an interesting effect on the mind and while it feels good at the time, you could regret having too many later. Once I had a bagful just to myself and when I woke up, I was sleeping in a branch naked.” Draco raised an eye. 

“Should we even be eating these then?” He asked and Ginny could tell he was hesitant about taking on. She decided to risk it. She needed something sweet and this seemed like just the thing. She’d had enough of fruits lately. As she took a bite of the sweet thing in her hand, she smiled. “It tastes just like a brownie.” 

“Of course!” Miska laughed. “What did you expect it to taste like?” 

Ginny shrugged. “I wasn’t sure. I don’t know what a hash is.”

Miska shrugged. “It’s just a plant. My mom always made these brownies for me growing up and she does so before I go on my adventure trips, so this is all I have, but please enjoy!”

Draco grabbed one and bit in and Ginny could see his face relax. “Well, it is good.” He said. “My mom never bakes anything for me. You’re lucky.”

The girl nodded. “My mom is wonderful. Alright, shall we continue?”

Ginny nodded and stuffed the bag into her tote and continued following this silver haired girl. For some reason now she actually seemed a little more likeable. Maybe she wasn’t trying to steal Draco away from her. As they walked, Ginny nibbled on another brownie and Draco, seeing her do so, grabbed a bit and put it in his mouth, sticking his tongue out at her. 

“So Miska, you been out here long?” He asked. “You seem like you’re dressed for an adventure.”

“Well I’ve kind of adventured around these lands many times over. I think at one point I’ve caught all the creatures and met all of the monsters. Probably know most of the locals too, so I knew you weren’t local. Although maybe that was a little too obvious. How about you two? You been out here long?” 

“About a week.” Draco said with a frown. “We just want to go home.”

“Where is home?” She asked, curious. 

“We live in a magical place!” Ginny said and Draco threw a hand over her mouth. “What?” She mumbled through her hands. “This place is magical too.”

Miska nodded. “There is definitely magic flowing through this place. Have you guys been to the miniature phoenix tree?”

Ginny nodded excitedly. “That’s where I hatched my melo, Pygmy. She’s the cutest little thing. She seems to want to stay hidden in her orb though.” Miska nodded in understanding. She jumped over a twig and her little bell jingled. “Why do you wear the bell?” Ginny asked curiously. 

“Well, when traveling there is a lot of creatures who might try to attack me. But my bell warns them off. Tells them I am coming so they run away.” She answered simply. “Pretty much it’s a detractor from myself.” Ginny nodded dumbly but didn’t understand what Miska meant. She just continued walking. “So if we had a bell they would not attack us?”

“Possibly.” Miska said. “Or maybe I’m just lucky. I tend to like to think that I am.” She smiled and took another brownie out of the bag. It was now over half empty.

As they walked down a row of plants that were orange and blue and some with leaves and even one that had berries. They continued along that path for a little while before Ginny got tired. “Can we stop for a bit?” She asked sheepishly.

“Of course!” Miska nodded. “Do you need a spot to rest? There’s a log over there you can sit on!” She pointed to a log covered in green moss and Ginny nodded. “That might be nice. Maybe we can chat and get to know each other a little better?”

Miska nodded. “Sure!”

She looked at Ginny and asked, “So how old are you miss?”

“I am 16. My boyfriend here is 17. Most people think he’s a bad boy because they miss that he’s a softie inside.” 

“I am not a softie!” Draco looked offended. “Just because I like some of the same things you do, does not mean that I am a softie. I am just as hardcore as you, and you definitely cannot say that you are a softie.” 

“No…” Ginny nodded in agreement. “No I cannot. Fine. He’s not a softie, but he’s sure not as hard-headed as he likes to make himself out to be with my friends and family.”

“You like to be a tough guy Draco?” Miska asked with mild curiosity. She ran her fingers through her hair playfully as she spoke. “You look the part so you think you have to act the part?”

“Eh, if you knew my father, you’d know why. With him you have to be tough.”

“Or else he might Disown you?” Ginny asked as Draco nodded in confirmation.

“I’m just trying to keep a good head and not lose my family over something stupid.”

Miska tilted her head and watching him with a curious gaze. “What would you lose your family over? If I may ask?” Draco’s face became slightly white as he thought. Ginny was glad someone had the nerve to ask the question, even if she could not bring herself to ask something like that from him. Although maybe that showed how much she cared, that she wouldn’t ask something that would hurt him.

“I have a few things…” Draco finally said and looked down blushing. “I don’t want to join him in his pursuits. If he keeps pushing, I’d probably leave. He also would never accept the woman I love.”

“Aww.” Miska fawned over that statement. “How cute!” 

Ginny looked at Draco with wide eyes. Was he talking about her? No, he couldn’t be. He hadn’t said that he loved her. Sometimes she wondered, but that didn’t mean it was true. She put her head down slightly. At least it was a good reason. If someone was worth leaving the family name over, perhaps love was the right answer. Would anything be like that for her? Would she give up her family for love? She looked over at Draco. She thought she’d been falling for him, but if he was in love with another girl, then it wouldn’t be worth it for her to get closer. Yeah they’d kissed and held each other, but even siblings do that sometimes! Her face felt really red as she grew a bit sad. She sighed. “Can we continue going?”

Miska nodded. 

Ginny and Draco ate the brownies as they walked and before she knew it they were out. “Boo!” Ginny said. “Your mom should have made more!”

Miska looked back. “They’re gone?” She asked, looking taken aback. 

“Yeah.” Ginny giggled slightly, feeling a little light headed. “They were soooooo good.”

“Wait til my father hears about this.” Draco said and then laughed. He grabbed Ginny around the neck and kissed her cheek, missing her lips completely. He saw a stick on the ground and picked it up. “Well look at this stick. It’s the best stick. I bet I can walk with this stick.”

Miska grinned and looked like she was holding back a laugh. She held out a hand. “Can I hold the stick? I like to make sure the sticks are safe.” 

Draco frowned. “But I like this stick. Can’t you protect another stick. Maybe that stick?” He pointed to the ground a few inches away. “And that one’s got pretty pink vines on it.”

Miska rolled her eyes and reached down to pick up a branch that even she didn’t see. “Are you guys hiding things from me?”

“No dear.” Miska promised and walked over, putting a hand on Ginny’s shoulder. “You know, maybe we should find a place to stay for the night. We’re about halfway there anyways.”

“But I’m not tired.” Ginny whined. “Why would we stop if we don’t have to!”

“I think it would be a good chance to get to know each other.” 

“Oh!” Ginny smiled. “Pick me, pick me!” She said, raising her hand as if she was in school again. Miska grinned, glad she wasn’t high because watching them was fun enough. She pointed to Ginny. “Yes dear?”

“I like cute Fluuuffy things! Like that Manky in your arms. He’s special isn’t he?”

 

“He really is.” Miska said with a smile. “Did you capture other pets while you were out?”

“We both have Reves. Mine is blue and has hearts on it! Draco’s is boring white but it has a red head like me!”

“It’s why I love it. It looks like my Ginny.” He said with a smile. 

“Your Ginny?” Ginny mocked offense. “But what about Harry?”

“What about him? I’m here, not your fuckbuddy of a friend.” 

Ginny gasped. “Wait til your father hears about that. Wait, no…”

“My father.” Draco laughed. “Oh god, my father would look at me with such distaste right now. He hates sweets and has always told me that sweets make people weak. He’s wrong! They make the world a better place! I swear, when I go back I am going to make my father brownies.”

“Maybe just regular brownies.” Miska said and tilted her head. “It sounds like your dad is a little uptight though.”

“A little! A little! His dad tried to kill me in our second year of school!” 

“On accident! He was after Harry.”

“Who cares!” Ginny frowned. “I could have died.”

Draco frowned and scooted closer to her. “Well I’m glad you didn’t.” 

Ginny felt a small smile come to her lips. At least he cared about Ginny enough to be glad she didn’t die. She sighed and leaned back into him. “You know why I like you Draco?”

“No, why?” Draco asked looking into her eyes as she looked up into his. “You tell it like it is. Sometimes a little harsher than needs be, but you never just let something go when you feel strongly about it.” 

Draco nodded. “I’ve never been one to not tell it how it is.”

Miska smiled. “It sounds like you guys have known each other a while.”

“5 years.” Draco said. “5 long brutal years of this girl ignoring me because her family hates me.”

“No, I ignored you because you acted like a jerk!” Ginny responded and blew a raspberry in his face. 

“Child.”

“Nitwit!”

“Twerp!”

“Ass!”

“You guys are so cute. You know that they say you pick on the person you like, right?”

Draco frowned. “No. Because that would mean I like half the school.”

“You mean you don’t?” Ginny asked and Draco flung her off and she fell onto the dirt ground. “REALLY?”

“Well apparently that means I like you!”

 

“No, apparently that means you are an ass!” Ginny responded and crossed her arms. Draco frowned and held out a hand. “Come here you.” 

She was about to say no but the look in his eyes were apologetic. “I’m sorry.” He said. So she took his hand. “You know if you just acted like this more often there might have been more of a chance of you hanging out with me.” 

“With your Gryffindor gits? No thank you.” He rolled his eyes and she sighed. She looked at Miska. “He doesn’t like my friends very much.”

“I can see that.” She said with a small frown. 

“By the way…” Ginny said. “You remind me of someone we met. A woman in the mountains. She was quite kind to us. Her name started with an M too.”

“Manju?” 

“Yeah, that’s it!” Ginny smiled at her great memory. 

Miska blushed a little. “So you already met my mother.”

“Your mother is Manju! You must tell her she maked good brownies!” Ginny giggled and walked over to Miska. “You’re a good friend Miska.”

“You’re a good friend too Ginny.” She hugged Ginny. 

Ginny yawned. “I’m tired!”

Draco yawned as well. “Then go to sleep!” He lay down with his head on the log and put an arm across to help Ginny. She crawled over to lay next to him, putting her head more on his chest than his arm, but he didn’t seem to mind. He began running his fingers through her hair. “Sleep well my love.” That was the last thing Ginny heard as she drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t long though before she felt Draco thrashing next to her. She gasped and sat up from a nightmare. She could feel her breathing and see her breath and it freaked her out a little. She didn’t feel good and she felt really thirsty. “M-miska?” She asked and leaned over to the gray haired girl. Miska sat up and looked at her. “Yes Gin?” 

“I’m really thirsty. Is there water nearby?” Miska nodded and stood up, leading Ginny over the a little clearing with a small stream running through it, not even 5 feet across in length and less than an inch deep. But that didn’t stop Ginny from feeling like it was more as she leaned down and fell face-first into the water. “Ugh!” She screamed. “I’m drowning.” 

Miska reached over and grabbed Ginny. “There you go. You’re ok.”

“You saved me!” Ginny hugged Miska tight. Miska held Ginny close for a couple minutes and then kissed her forehead. “I’m glad you’re safe dear. Now let’s go back to sleep.”

“But it’s hot over there! What if I need more water!” 

Miska frowned. “Then we’ll bring some back with us.” She pulled out a canteen and handed it to Ginny, who leaned down and let it sit in the water for a few minutes before she was satisfied that it was full. They then walked back to where Draco lay and settled in next to him, Ginny on one side and Miska on the other. At some point, Draco grabbed the girl next to him and cuddled into her. And that’s how Ginny found him sleeping the next morning. 

“Draco Malfoy!” Ginny yelled at the top of her voice. “What do you think you’re doing!” 

Draco groaned and opened his eyes to look up at Ginny, then looked down to see that who he had his arm around wasn’t in fact Ginny Weasley as he thought it had been. He let go of her and shook his head. “Quiet Ginny, my head is hurting.”

“Aww, poor baby. Maybe Miska can fix it!” She stormed off in the direction she thought the stream was in, but before she knew it she was lost and the stream was nowhere to be found. Miska’s voice rang out. “Ginny!”

“Ginevra!” Draco called. They were a little ways off. Ginny ran towards the sound of her name until she ran back into the two, feeling relief. She grabbed Draco roughly and pulled him against her and kissed him. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” She said and left it at that. 

Draco nodded mutely. He just held her tight and kissed her once more. “So…” Miska said, coughing to get their attention. “Should we head out or do you two need some… alone time.” Her face showed her deep dislike of the idea but gave them the option anyways. 

Ginny could feel her face flush. “Ah, no no. We can keep moving!”

“Good.” Miska smiled. She waved for them to follow her. She was holding Manky again while she walked and Ginny felt a little bit jealous. Manky was her creature. She nearly doubled over laughing though when Manky jumped out of Miska’s arms, knocking the bell and sat down next to a huge pile of… coins! Ginny raised an eye in amazement. She pulled out her bag of withholding and started scooping it in. There had to be thousands of coins here! She stuffed them in her bag as quickly as she could and then pet Manky, thanking him for being a good boy. She stood up and looked over at Draco who looked up at something with wide eyes. A blue creature with a long snout was looking at them. Ginny looked at Draco and by the look in their eyes they had the same idea. Ginny picked up Manky and they ran away from the creature. “How the hell is our forest called the Forbidden Forest? It doesn’t have half of these creatures in it!”

Ginny nodded. Miska caught up to them and finally they stopped. “What was that thing?” Ginny asked. Miska breathed in deeply catching her breath. “That thing is a blue Florbet. They aren’t too terribly dangerous, but I wasn’t about to leave you guys run off on your own. Besides, I like a good run.” She smiled. “We’re getting closer to the town. You should be able to see it in a few hours.” 

“Really?” Ginny was glad to hear that. She needed to get home. As much as she liked the adventure she had been on with Draco Malfoy, it was perfectly clear that he wanted to get home to his love and that she just needed to get home to accept her reality for what it was. Perhaps no one would actually love her and people would just keep using her. She sighed deeply and looked down. 

“What’s wrong Gin?” Draco asked, looking at her face.

“I don’t know. I think I am just ready to go home.” Draco nodded but she noticed his face fall a bit. She looked at him. “Aren’t you wanting to get home?”

Draco shrugged. “In some ways yes, in others no. I mean, this is the first time I’ve had an adventure and not used my…” He stopped short of saying wand. She laughed while he continued. “Back at home I’ll have to face my friends. And I have to…” He paused and then stopped short. He shook his head and reached a hand out for hers. “Just once I wish life was simple. At least here we had one goal in mind and we’ve been working towards it.” He turned and grabbed Ginny close and kissed her. “Thank you for being on this adventure with me.” 

“Thank you for going on this adventure with me.” She said mildly breathless. She did have to wonder how this fit in with the girl he loved, but she decided against asking. If only for today, she would allow it because tomorrow, everything might be different.


	8. A look into the future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the city the two thought they might be heading home today... they were wrong. What will happen on a night in Ay Town? [Chapter is definitely M]

Miska waved back to her companions and pointed ahead to the city which they could just make out through the jungle. Ginny felt like running and leaping with joy as if that could help her reach it even quicker. Draco ‘s eyes lip up probably as much as hers as he squeezed her hand gently. “This should be it. If we can convince the leaders of this town to send us home…” 

“Then we get to go home… finally!” Ginny smiled excitedly at the thought of going home and sharing her adventures with her friends, but also introducing them to this Malfoy. Her friend… no, her boyfriend. She could happily say that through this journey through the Ay world she had fallen deeply and madly in love with this man next to her. And he seemed to have fallen for her as well. But she worried. What if this feeling was only temporary? What if it ended as soon as they got back to Hogwarts? Her fear began to consume her once more despite the feeling of his hand holding hers in reassurance. Things could change, especially with the influence of his classmates and parents. She considered distancing herself from him, but the idea of that just broke her heart! 

As the woods came to an end around them, they stepped into an open field that led down into the town. A real town with a road and a bridge that led across a long waters. She wondered where that bridge led but decided she didn’t care really because they had made it here with an adventure under their belts. Miska’s speed increased a bit after they had gotten out of the forest and Ginny felt as if she needed to jog to catch up. That little girl with those long legs, almost as if they were made for running! Ginny shook her head with a laugh and pulled Draco along. 

They jogged down the road passing a library to their left, a cafe to their right, a hotel to their left and a visitor center to their right, a bank to the left and a hospital to the right were up ahead but Miska had stopped at the visitor center. “This is probably where you will find how to talk to the council and any other information you might need. Is there anything else I can do for you guys before I leave you?”

Ginny shook her head no, as did Draco. Miska nodded. “Alrighty then! I wish you both all the luck in the world! Safe travels dear children!” She said and before their eyes transformed into an antelope looking creature that bounded off. “She was…” Ginny began, eyes wide. 

“Apparently the people are creatures!” Draco said, surprised as she was. It did explain a lot in a way. Ginny began to laugh, nervous and amusement both taking over her. How was one supposed to know they were interacting with creatures instead of humans? Or were they still human, but like in their world able to transform, like animagi? She didn’t know for sure. All she knew was, this world had it’s own little charm. 

Ginny dragged Draco into the visitor’s center with her and saw a boy with blue hair and an orange shirt behind the counter. He looked chill, laid back as he read a newspaper from behind the desk. “Excuse me?” Ginny said, coughing to get the boy’s attention. He raised an eye above the paper and seeing the two coming towards him he placed the paper down neatly on a stack of papers beside him.

“Hello, welcome to the Ay Visitor’s center. I am Pablo, the resident greeter and waste manager. Please tell me that you have found my town to be waste free?”

Ginny raised a brow but nodded. “Your town looks very nice. In fact it’s probably one of the nicer cities I have been to.”

Hearing this, Pablo smiled. “I really am glad to hear it. How many I help you today?”

“My boyfriend and I need to find a way back home and we hoped we could get your council together to help us.” Ginny had hope in her thoughts but less once he looked at her with a frown. 

“The council’s job is to help make people happier here. Why would they be a part of a plan to send you on your way? And why would you need their help?” He frowned. “You shouldn’t want to leave!” He was becoming almost erratic, but Draco spoke up, causing him to look at him instead of focussing on her and what she had said.

“Excuse me, Pablo, sir?” Draco asked kindly, getting the boy’s focus back on the task at hand. “My girlfriend meant to say that while we love your community, we must return home so we can tell our friends about this place! Do you know how many people would love to come see this beautiful clean environment? So many people would love to be able to and we need to be able to tell them how to get here. Your council can help us with that!”

“M-more people…” Pablo considered this and then when Ginny had lost hope, he smiled wide. “I would love it if more people came, as long as they keep my village clean!” 

“Of course.” Draco said. “We’ll only tell the people who would love and appreciate it as much as you do.” 

Pablo nodded. “That would be great! I can call together the council, but it will take a day for them all to get here.” 

“A day!” Ginny’s exasperation was evident, but Draco squeezed her hand, making her look at him. “Draco, we can’t wait another day! It’s been more than a week! We’ve missed so much already!” 

Draco frowned. “Gin, a day is better than it could be. Let’s give them a day and who knows… by tomorrow we could be going home. Give me a day? We’ll go explore the town and meet some people and maybe we can get to know each other a little more before it’s us back at school and forced apart by our houses once more.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

Draco smiled softly and nodded. “As long as you won’t let that happen, then neither will I. Now, do we have enough to get a hotel room for the night?” 

“Easily. I think I found nearly 100,000 bp in that stretch between the East River and the Rainforest.” Ginny nodded to the bag on her hip which held the bag of withholding among other things. “I guess that is ok Pablo. Would you please tell them that we’d like to meet them tomorrow?”

Pablo nodded and grabbed a map of the town from beside the table and circled something on it. “Over on the West side of town is a larger building with many windows. It’s our council room. I will send out the call for the council tonight and then will send you a message at the hotel about when to meet us.”

“Us?” Draco asked, obviously as confused as Ginny about why Pablo would be attending.

“I am the Waste Manager of this town and I am sure there is something I could do to help. With the help of the council I may figure out just what!” Pablo’s smiled happily as he turned back to his paper, obviously an action of dismissal. 

Draco raised an eyebrow and then rolled his eyes as he nudged her and as they made their way out of the door he grabbed her around the waist causing her to yip in surprise. He grinned and led her across the road to the hotel. She didn’t even hesitate this time when she asked for a room with one bed. With how Draco’s arms felt around her that first night they spent together in a real bed. It was the most comfortable she had been in a long time. 

The lady nodded and handed a key card over to Ginny and then led them to an upstairs room on the third floor. From the view outside the window she could see the buildings beneath her, the library being the closest one. “So do you want to go out or…”

“I want to get to know you better Ginevra. I’ve wanted to know so much more ever since about the fourth year. You were 13 and you’d just started to blossom into a beautiful young woman, but more than that you were starting to get a strong head on your shoulders, but you fawn so over Harry Potter that sometimes it’s hard to get to know you at all!”

“What do you want to know?” Ginny asked as she sat down on the bed and pulled out hers and Draco’s pet orbs and set them on the side table. Draco sat next to her and smiled, holding out a hand, which she took, looking into his eyes. 

This was Draco Malfoy, nemesis of her brother. Slytherin. Someone she really didn’t know all that well. And she wanted to get to know him better. 

“Well Gin, what is your favorite color?”

She laughed, not expecting a question so simple. “You know, I think it changes from time to time. I used to say green, emerald green, but I think my new favorite color is grey.”

Draco’s breath hitched slightly but he continued his questions. “What is your favorite book? I know you like reading.”

“Hmm, I think the Monster book of Monsters.”

“Seriously? That crazy book!”

“It’s not that crazy!” Ginny said with a laugh. “It’s actually a pretty good book when you get used to it. It also has it’s own personality. Actually, I think part of why I like it is I have always liked creatures.”

He nodded with a smile on his face. “That is the perfect answer! Other than the fact that it can bite, I actually loved reading the inside of it.” 

“You never got yours to stop biting?”

“Have you met my family? My dad’s personality would cause a normal book to bite if they could.”

Ginny laughed. “True. What about your favorite book?” 

“Hmm, my favorite book is probably Hogwarts: A History.”

“Oh dear gods, not another Hermione.”

“I am NOT Hermione.” He said adamantly. He decided to move on, obviously annoyed by the thought of being compared to Hermione. “What about your favorite class?”

Ginny thought for a moment before saying, “Well, I’ve always been pretty good at charms and it is a pretty fun class, so I’d say that is probably that is my favorite one.”

“Mine is Potions, for pretty much the same reason. What’s it like growing up with all brothers.” Draco asked, watching her thoughtfully. 

“Well, sometimes they are a major pain. They like picking on me since I am the youngest. However they have taught me that in order to be happy someday I need to find somebody worthy of me. Hell, maybe in a way they’ve made me realize that I need to be stronger for someone. I mean, Fred and George will always have someone to lean on. As twins they share everything and I don’t see them ever falling apart. Ron has Harry as not only a friend, but as someone he can go to at any point. All of my brothers have someone like that… I have my brothers, but they can’t be there for me forever. I will be a good girlfriend to you, if you let me. I’m not needy and I will always take care of you as much as you take care of me.”

Draco grinned. “I have no doubts of that.” Draco rubbed her hands and thought momentarily before asking. “Why is it you believe all the rumors about me? Is it because your brother hates me or do you think I am actually just that bad?”

“Is this why you wanted to ask questions? You just wanted to know my true feelings. You could have just asked that to begin with Draco. The truth is I DID grow up in a Gryffindor household who had a strong hatred for all things Slytherin. I don’t know what caused the rift between the two houses. We are both strong houses and yet separate all we do is cancel each other out. But the way I see it, I overreacted. I ended up allowing the thoughts of the evil Draco Malfoy get into my head. But this last year I have seen something different about you. I don’t know if something changed or if somehow my blinders are falling away. Either way, I know now that there is no reason for me to see you as the boy with all the rumors surrounding him. You’ve taught me that. You’ve somehow managed to get into my heart and show me that there is good in you and that makes me proud to say you are my boyfriend. And I’ll still tell them that when we get back to Hogwarts… if you’ll let me.”

Draco grinned. “Of course I’ll let you. All I needed to know was that you somehow had gotten past that because I wanted to tell you… I love you.” 

Ginny gasped and threw herself into his arms, holding him close. “I love you too Draco Malfoy.” 

He held her close and ran his fingers through her hair. “You know that first question I asked? I think I know why your favorite color changed.”

“Oh?” Ginny asked, curious because she didn’t even know herself. 

“Look into my eyes Gin. Look into them and tell me what you see.” 

She found herself looking deep into the depths of them, a sparkle meant only for her in those beautiful gray orbs. She suddenly realized what he meant. “Your eyes… You mean that it was Harry’s eyes that had been my favorite thing before that?”

Draco nodded. “You had a fascination at looking into his eyes and it caused that color, emerald green, to become your favorite color. But now, you look into my eyes and see something there, something especially for you. That is what changed your favorite color from green to gray. And if I may say so, that answer was probably your best answer by far.”

Ginny smiled, knowing that he meant that. “Why thank you.” She said with a small bow. Draco rolled his eyes. “Well, aren’t you full of yourself.” 

“I learned from the best.” Ginny said, nudging Draco playfully. Draco rolled his eyes and leaned over to kiss her. “Well, hopefully that sarcasm isn’t the oooonly thing you learn from me.”

Ginny grinned. “I doubt it will be. So, you wanna go check out this town while we’re here?”

Draco nodded. “I thought you’d never ask! It looks like it could be fun.” He stood up and pulled her up with him, and she smiled, because thanks to the last half hour or so, she definitely knew Draco and herself a little bit better than before.

They walked hand in hand down the road and stopped into the first building that she had seen. It was a wooden building and not very big, but it looked like it could be worthwhile to check out. As they walked in, a young lady with bright blue eyes and a silver wig accentuating her facial features stepped forward. “Welcome to the Library. Be quiet!” 

Ginny’s eyes went wide but she decided to just roll her eyes. There was 3 rows of shelves filled with books. It was definitely a downgrade from the library of Hogwarts. She walked along the shelves and spotted books like, “Getting Debris” which was apparently about a Chromo who could not jump, “Tale of the Phoenix Tree” which by it’s description was about A trio of Lunaris tell the young pets a tale of how the Phoenix Tree came to be. Ginny was tempted to grab that one to read but there were more books and a lot of them looked interesting. The next one she saw was “Story Game Vol. 1” which apparently had a story written from people throughout Ay who had written a story together. She was a little curious how that would be? But it kind of sounded fun! And then she saw one called “Two Faux in a box” which by it’s description was about Two friends don't want to be separated, so they decide that sometimes a box needs more than one Faux! Ginny giggled by the description and showed it to Draco. He tilted his head. “Maybe I’ll go read this while you look around?” He said and she nodded. She wasn’t quite ready to settle with a book yet. 

She moved forward to keep browsing and saw a book called “The Egg thief” and as she read the description it caused her to get angry. Was that really a thing? People stealing eggs and not feeling bad about it. She could just imagine how bad she would feel if she had her Pygmy stolen from her before she’d even gotten to know what her little creature would be. She would have been so distraught. And after learning that some people leave their eggs alone there for days, she could see how that could happen. She guessed she felt a little grateful to Rowan for helping her hatch the egg instantaneously with her rosetta magic. If she hadn’t done that, she wasn’t sure Draco would have stayed there and waited with her just to hatch the egg. And she had fallen in love with her little Melo. She was glad she got to know him. 

She decided to move on from the depressing thought and check some other books. She saw “The slashbot” and wondered what it was. She opened the book and was greeted with pictures of a little silver creature with eyes and a couple wheels for legs and she laughed. Apparently the Slashbot was their version of a wishing well. It was a creature of sorts that took in papers with people’s ideas and if it liked it and the amount of money they included, it would give them what they wanted…. Soooo, maybe a little bit better than a wishing well. She continued browsing and came across a book called “Hunter finds a home.” Sounded like it could be a cute story. The next book she came across however was called, “The collector” and really didn’t have a description so she wondered if it was about collecting pets or could it be about a soul collector. Whatever it was about, she clearly didn’t have enough time to look at all the books that she found interesting in concept. 

She noticed Draco almost done with the book he was reading and decided that while reading books in another world sounds fun, she knew she wouldn’t be here long enough to enjoy why these all sounded so fun! She walked over to Draco and sat down. “Any good?” 

He nodded and gave the book over to her. While she had the time…

Draco was tapping his toes after about 10 minutes but by that point she was nearly done with the book. “I gave you time to read!” She said in a frustrated but playful tone. “So? I’m bored!” 

“You could have went to look at the books like I did.”

“I didn’t want to.” Draco said as an absolute. Gods he could be such a pain in the ass. Luckily for him, she loved him enough to make up for that. She felt him wrap his arms around her neck and smiled. “So where to next?”

Before she knew it Draco had dragged her pretty much all over town. They had spent a couple of hours at the museum learning things about many of the leaders and important people of Ay, as well as checking out the school where they were very surprised to see it didn’t look much like their school. Now, they were heading into a mall. It was actually quite a glorious site. There were pets and humans together, but Draco and Ginny had left their orbs back at the hotel so they could sleep. It was probably for the better anyways. There were bookstores and item stores and even a plant emporium. There was a lot of clothing stores and even a jewelry store. So many places with so much to see. The only thing is it was late and Ginny was pretty sure the mall would close soon, but none of the places looked like they were closing up. She finally asked someone who said, “Oh, we have people who stay up all night here. We like to make sure they have a place they can go to get clothes, food or whatever they need while they are awake.”

Ginny’s eyes widened but she really liked that answer. Many places in the muggle world and wizard world alike didn’t make preference for people who slept during the day and was up at night. It was both amusing and very kind of them to do so for people here. Draco put a hand on her shoulder. “Mind if I go look around for a bit?” 

Ginny frowned but acquiesced. “That’s fine. I might go check out this clothing store anyways.” She said as she pointed to Ye Olde clothing store. As she walked in she recognized the girl at the counter. “Colette?” She said and had a smile because she remember Colette being kind when they were at the hotel in the scrublands. “When did you get here?”

“If it isn’t Miss Ginevra Weasley. You stayed at my brother’s hotel in the scrublands about a week ago, yeah?” Ginny nodded, glad that she remembered. “Did you both just get into town?”

“Yeah, we kind of had an adventure all through Ay.” 

“Oh, where have you been?”

“Well, Draco and I first woke up at the standing stone, where a jerk called Scion was completely useless at getting us anywhere. He pointed us towards the mountains, but mostly I think he just wanted rid of us. We went to a beautiful little village in the mountains and stayed with a kind soul named Manju. She was a good cook. Then we went to the Phoenix tree on the way towards the Scrublands. After that we moved on to the fissures. Those are some really hot lands!” Colette nodded. “After that we had to find our way across the river and a boy named Dylan helped us find a way across by encouraging some of the fishermen to borrow us their boats. It got scary for a bit there because there was some falls that we almost went down! But once we got across we made it to the rainforest where we met a kind traveler named Miska who showed us our way here.”

“Wow!” Colette smiled. “That is quite the adventure! I am surprised that you didn’t just cross the bridge from the phoenix tree to this town, but it sounds like you liked the adventure.”

“T-there’s a bridge.” Ginny frowned. As much as she liked the adventure and she was very glad with how her time with Draco had been, she hadn’t expected there to have been an easier path. Damn this not having a map! Actually, why hadn’t Rowan told her? And then she remembered…. She had asked Rowan to go to the scrublands with the children and that’s why they had ended up going that direction with Rowan. And then they’d ditched her before they got to the fissures since she didn’t like the heat there. Ginny sighed. No, she was not going to regret that. She was already really excited that she might be going home tomorrow and she wasn’t going to lose that hope. 

Collette nodded and laughed. “Don’t worry, it sounds like you had a lot of fun already. Have you both eaten well. My friend Claude is a chef and he makes the most amazing food. I bet I can get him to cook a nice dinner for you guys… no charge of course!” 

“That actually sounds really nice.” Ginny said. It sounded like a date. She definitely wouldn’t mind a real date with Draco before they went back to Hogwarts. I mean, they were already calling themselves boyfriend and girlfriend and had said “I love you” to each other, so a date probably wouldn’t change how they felt about each other, but she’d never actually had a date. She thought it sounded nice. “Just the two of us?” She asked to make sure.

Collette nodded. “Of course! You two need a nice time together.”

“What do you mean?” She asked. Was it obvious they were together? 

“Well, when I saw you two last you had a bit of hesitancy sharing a room, but the way he looked at you was… endearing. You could tell he really liked you. I do hope that issue has resolved itself?”

“We are dating now, yes.” Ginny said and rolled her eyes. Why had it been so obvious for this stranger to see something in Draco like that? 

Collette clapped her hands together. “Yay! I will go talk to Claude about making you two a special dinner. Why don’t you look at clothes so you can look nice for the date and I will be back very soon.”

Ginny nodded and looked around. There was clothes of all sizes and colors here. She was looking at a peach halter top when Collette returned. “It’s all set. Have you found something you like?” Ginny shrugged. “I like this top but I don’t know if Draco would like it.” 

 

“Hmm…” Colette fingered the top and then shook her head. “No, but I think I might have something in mind.” She led Ginny over to a rack of dresses. She pulled out a pretty black dress with a white belt in the center. She led her over to the dressing rooms and opened it up for Ginny who stepped inside. As she put on the dress she was amazed that Colette had picked out the perfect size for her. She turned around looking at herself in the mirror and noticed that the dress had a pretty high slit. But damn did it look good on her. She definitely could see Draco loving her in it. She walked out and heard a low whistle. There stood Draco, looking at her with admiration and something indescribable in his eyes. 

“Collette was just telling me about how you two were planning a date for us tonight. When were you gonna ask me?” He asked, but she could tell by his tone that he definitely wasn’t thinking this was a bad idea. She could see his smirk as he walked over, put an arm around her waist and kissed her briskly. “You look ravishing.” 

Collette squealed in utter fangirl delight. “You guys are so cute! However…” She looked Draco up and down. “You cannot go out with that hot girl without dressing up yourself.” She pulled Draco away and over to a shelf, grabbing a white shirt, then over to the wall where some dress shirts and jackets were and grabbed a grey dress shirt and dress pants. She then pulled him over to look at the black tie on the wall. “Go put this on.”

He looked at her with a look of slight concern, but then realized he wasn’t going to be able to fight her. He walked into the dressing room and when he came out he looked like the perfect gentleman. He looked over to see Ginny’s reaction and he must of liked what he saw because he suddenly smiled and that sparkle she’d seen in his eyes earlier was back again. She walked over and he took her around the waist. He leaned in close to her and whispered. “You know, I kind of wish we weren’t going to dinner because I could think of some things I would like to do to you in that dress.” The way Draco said that, all Ginny could do was blush. They’d barely made it past kissing and she still was a bit hesitant to do more, but the more they got closer, the more she could see doing much much more. He smirked at her pink cheeks and grinned. “And it would seem you wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.”

She shrugged and leaned into him. “Maybe someday. I know that I really only ever want to be with one person and we’ll see but I could definitely see that being you.”

“You mean you’ve never…” She shook her head. He took a sharp intake of breath and nodded. “Well, I will try to be good.” She smiled. Thank god he understood. He noticed Collette watching them and stepped aside to grab his clothes. “Alright, I’ll pay. Do you want to bring our clothes back to the apartment before we go to dinner?” Ginny nodded. “That sounds like a plan.”

Draco nodded, walked over to the counter and pulled out her bag of withholding to pay the fee and then they made their way back to the hotel. It didn’t take long to stuff their items on the floor next to the bed and then made their way out. Claude was an amusing figure. He was all smiles and fun as he made food fly before it fell to their plates. He was an animated sort of fellow with purple hair that seemed to go everywhere! And he wore a mask. If anything, his style of cooking was full of fun, flair and artistic abilities. By the end of the meal, both were very full and happy. And a little drunk. Claude had asked if they wanted to drink with their meals and while Ginny had alcohol before it was always at weddings and never quite in the Quantity that Claude liked to serve. 

As they made their way back, they took their time so that Ginny could get cool air to help her have a level head when they got back. She smiled as she steadied a bit. A bit of fresh air and time made her start to feel more of a buzz than being full on drunk as she did at the restaurant. He led her up to the hotel room and kissed her lovingly on the lips as he led her in. Draco led Ginny Weasley over to the side of the bed nearest them and lay Ginny down on the bed. She smiled up at him. He lay down beside her and watched her as she turned over to face him. “You know, you mentioned something about a massage?” 

Ginny laughed. “Now? NOW you want the massage?” 

Draco shrugged. “I just thought of it because my feet being elevated made me notice how much they hurt.” 

“Too much walking for you Malfoy?” She said playfully but sat up and moved towards the edge of the bed where she reached his feet. She grabbed one of his shoes, which was now covered in dirt and dust from the long trek they had taken so far. She never would have guessed that less than a week ago that they would go up a mountain, down it and across probably another dozen or more kilometers before getting to the lava filled fissures, across a lake, and into a rainforest before finding themselves in Ay Town. They had probably gone hundreds of kilometers already. The funny thing is, she knew that the shoes were probably expensive as she removed them, but he hadn’t complained once about how dirty or uncomfortable they were getting as they walked. His socks underneath were immaculate still. Silk. And probably more comfortable than anything she’d ever own or wear. 

She rubbed her thumbs across the bottom of his feet in a smooth motion and Draco just closed his eyes and lay his head back. She smiled and was glad that she had done this multiple times for her family members. She’d gotten practice and was very glad about having the ability to help Draco even a little bit. It’s not like he wasn’t trying to help her and she kind of owed him for the compliments he had given her tonight. She ran one thumb over the arch and the other up the the toes and past. After that she used both thumbs to go over the heel and he gasped so she pulled away and he sat up. “No no Ginevra Weasley! Don’t you dare stop. That feels really good!” 

Ginny exhaled in relief and continued the motions. After a bit she removed the other shoe and began to work on that. After a bit he sat up and looked into her eyes. “Shall I massage you?”

Ginny nodded and began to remove her shoes, but he reached down and began to remove her dress and she raised an eyebrow. Was he going to massage her back? Little did she know how naive that thought could be. He picked her up and lay her back on the bed, kissing her neck and down, his hands fondling her breasts carefully. Ginny gasped and he took that moment to shove his tongue into her mouth, kissing her fully. She kissed him back, running her tongue over his and allowed him to remove her bra. As the night continued Ginny felt amazing as her and Draco became one. Later that night he looked at her carefully, gauging her reaction. “Was that… ok?” 

She released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding and nodded, breathless. “That was… perfect Draco. More than I ever imagined.” She suddenly had the thought of what would happen when they got back. Draco had made love to her and would probably spread the news throughout the school to humiliate her. Why wouldn’t he? What if that was all he wanted? Before this, the only person who had ever touched her like that was… herself. She’d never been with a man. She never thought she wanted to be with anyone other than Harry Potter. Now that she’d slept with the enemy did that make her a slut? Or worse, someone Harry Potter hated. 

Ginny could feel herself starting to panic when Draco wrapped his arms around her and kissed her bottom lip. “You know, I told myself I was going to wait until the woman I married before I did what I did to you tonight. That wasn’t a mistake.” He lowered his head onto her chest. “Who knew that I would be seeing myself married to this most amazing woman beside me. In fact…” He lowered himself off of the bed and grabbed his cloak, reaching inside and pulling out a box. “Did you know that in this world they marry their pets? It seemed like a funny concept to me. But it got me thinking about myself and my own future. A future with a woman who could see me for me. I know we’re both still in school but I am 17 and am be legally an adult. I know you Ginevra will be 17 this next year and of legal mind to determine if you want to marry me. If you choose to wait, I WILL wait for you! I just want you to marry me.” He opened the box to reveal a white gold ring with a large diamond center. She could feel her breathing quicken and never felt quite as naked as in this moment both literally and figuratively. She could go back to school engaged to the most wanted man in Hogwarts sans Harry potter himself. But this man wanted her! “YES!” She nearly screamed the word as she jumped up and grabbed him tightly and he held her close, rubbing his fingers along her sides. 

“My future wife.” He said, testing the words and smiling. “Ginevra Weasley, you have made me the happiest man alive.” He kissed her fully and then lay her back on the bed once more.


	9. Roadbumps happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ginny awakens in the her own world, what will happen and will her brother support her newfound love? And what the heck is a soul bond?

Draco and Ginny walked hand in hand towards the visitor center since they were nearby and decided to see if Pablo had any news. When they arrived they saw Pablo cleaning up a little mess in the corner where they kept pamphlets about the different stores in the town and surrounding areas. As they walked in, Pablo looked and up smiled. “If it isn’t the two visitors. Unfortunately I do not have any information from my friends yet. A couple were in town and they said they could meet up once I can get the rest of us together. I am just waiting to hear on the rest. I highly doubt you want to spend your day here.”

Ginny frowned, but did not mind the delay too terribly. Here she had a fiance, a few pets she loved and all the time in the world to relish in her bliss from not only last night, but how the week had gone. “Do you have any suggestions?” She asked, to see if there was something they should do. 

“Well, I recommend checking out the bridge if you have the time. The West River is a right sight to see.” Pablo grabbed a pamphlet and Ginny raised an eye. The area looked a little creepy and a little scary, but so long as they were on the bridge, they were safe. She could handle that. “But how will we know if we’re supposed to get together tonight?” 

“I’ll send someone for you if we can get everyone together tonight. At least if you’re on the bridge it will be hard to miss you if they do need to find you. I can let the hotel know you’re staying another night just in case though. You never know what tonight will bring.” Ginny frowned but then tilted her head where it landed on Draco’s shoulder and he looked down, kissing her head. He looked at Pablo. “That sounds fine. And thank you Pablo for everything you’re doing to help us. We certainly will mention to our friends to come to Ay if they can when we get back.”

Pablo smiled brightly upon hearing that. “I am glad I could help Sir.” 

Draco tugged on Ginny's hand and she followed him out. He rounded them back to the hotel so they could grab their bags, their orbs and so that he could kiss her. “You taste marvelous my dear fiance.” He said as he grinned and kissed her once more. She could feel a burn in her cheeks and was very glad Draco kissed with his eyes closed. She breathed through her nose, a deep sigh as she kissed him back, hoping that her flushed face could be read as just flushed from the kiss and not embarrassment. She felt him pull away and smiled happily. She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt so on cloud nine. Was it because of last night? Or the kiss from today? Or from the way he called her fiance proudly? She partially hoped it was the latter but realized it was probably all of the above reasons.

She knelt down to grab her bag and as she picked it up she fingered one of the orbs gently. Her pets were sleeping inside this orb and she didn’t want to disturb them, but she’d gotten so used to their company that she really didn’t see how she could travel the bridge without letting them out to explore as well. She wasn’t sure why, but Draco hadn’t caught any pets other than his Reve, Flufferius. Maybe he was just too attached to the Reve and didn’t want it to fight for attention with others, while she had gone the other way. She wanted her Melo to have friends, so she caught the fluffy ones she saw and fell in love with. Like the Purple Panda Maki and the fantasy hearts Reve with the pretty colors that she’d found in the East River. And when she’d found Weid’s Marmoset Maki in the rainforest she fell in love with it’s fluffiness and the way it had played with Pygmy. 

She opened the orb and Pygmy appeared, making the noises she’d started getting accustomed to. Draco opened his as well, Flufferius appearing and ruffling his feathers. Ginny could see the love and affection Draco had for his little creature as he went over and pet it on it’s head, smoothing down it’s bright red feathers. Only one pet seemed to come out when they went adventuring. Maybe the creatures needed more sleep and therefore took turns? Although it seemed to her that only Pygmy ended up coming out for her. She wanted to ask someone but Rowan was no longer around and she was the only one Ginny knew of who would have an answer to a question like that. Maybe if they ever saw her again… but Ginny doubted it. Why would Rowan come to this town when she had left them back in the fields? She was probably already happily back in the Mountains by now with Manju. 

Draco grabbed a couple pieces of the maple leaf candy from his own bag and scarfed them down. When he saw Ginny’s incredulous face he asked. “What?”

“You’re just going to stuff your face and not even ask if I wanted one?” Ginny asked mocking offense. She didn’t really care, but it was amusing nonetheless when he stopped chewing and stared. Suddenly he swallowed, reached into his bag and pulled out a heart shaped box. 

“I didn’t think you liked Maple. And if I know you the way I think I do, you prefer chocolate.” Ginny’s eyes widened. Another first. A gift from a partner of hers that wasn’t just, “Here’s my old (fill in the blank)” because thoughtful gifts were just better when they were new. She got enough old things being passed down from her brother or her parents that she was quite excited when someone liked her enough to say, “I bought this just for you.” And it had finally happened! She walked over and took the box of chocolates and looked inside and the different shell-shaped chocolates and picked one up to taste. It had an odd sort of sweet flavor to it and then realized why. It had alcohol in it. Not much, just enough to flavor it. She definitely liked that. The others were just plain milk and dark chocolate but they all tasted so good. Before she knew it she had eaten half the box. Draco just stared incredulous and Ginny crossed her arms. “What? Breakfast of champions.” Was her only response. He rolled his eyes and laughed.

“You are too adorable, you know that?” He said and walked over and placed a kiss on her lips. “And you taste of chocolate. I think I preferred when you tasted of me…” He winked and her face greatly blushed at this remark. He grinned and kissed her once more. “Now shall we go adventure for the day and come back before sunset to see if they have the council put together?” 

Ginny nodded mutely. How was it she could have such conflicting thoughts? She did want to go home, she did. But she also liked how she felt here. She felt safe and warm and loved and taken care of. It was easier to live here with there being money left everywhere and there were so many things she could do without having to worry about her schoolwork. But then there was the other side of it. She loved school and she did have friends at Hogwarts, even if some of them didn’t appreciate her as much as she would like. She had her real Pygmy there and who was feeding it? But something she was missing was flying… She loved the way it felt as she floated above the ground by about 40-50 feet as she maneuvered around the field, dodging bludgers and feeling the rush of excitement as she threw the quaffle to earn her team points. Although having played Seeker with Draco the other day, she’d definitely seen the fun in that too. 

Draco walked over a placed a hand on her shoulder. “You ready to go?”

Ginny frowned. She felt like she was about to remember something important, but it was lost on her as she looked into Draco’s eyes and nodded. “Definitely.” She grabbed his hand and they went on their way. Today she had on a bright blue halter top that Collette must have snuck into her things while they were at the dinner last night. Draco had found some clothes too, a pair of jeans and a basic t-shirt. He looked good in what they’d normally consider “muggle clothing.” She rolled her eyes. What would even be considered a muggle here? Maybe they were because they didn’t have the animal parts or because they didn’t know the lore.

She watched the stones on the walking path and kicked one as they made their way to the bridge. The bridge was long and it had large edges, probably so that nobody would fall over as they looked at all the cool things. Just over the ledge though she could see the water and some sturdy rocks that if someone fell on them would probably damage them or worse. She even saw some bones along the edge and raised her eyes. Maybe she should be glad that they hadn’t crossed this river instead of the other one. She could see a tree in the distance, but not much besides that. She turned to Draco. “Thank goodness we came in from the east river side. Although having known this bridge was here would have been handy. Did you know that this goes back to the Phoenix tree?”

Draco raised a brow. “No, I didn’t. I’m surprised with all the talking Rowan did on the way there that she didn’t tell me that!”

Ginny laughed. “Right!” 

Suddenly Pygmy yipped and Ginny looked over to see a blue fuzzy creature with no arms but intense eyes and a red water creature with large teeth making their way towards Pygmy, trying to pin him and attack. Ginny was about to run over but Draco stopped her. “Don’t get yourself hurt! Those things are about as big as you. Pygmy!” He said and the little creature looked over to him with fearful eyes. “You are stronger than them! Fling mud at them!” Pygmy looked down at the mud beside the bridge edge and looked up at the creatures and almost as if what Draco had said clicked, it jumped right into the pile and spattered both of the other creatures. The blue one shook off the mud and looked at them angrily but stomped away, apparently done with them. The red one however, also looking annoyed, looked like it wanted revenge. It lunged at Pygmy but Pygmy jumped out of the way and chomped down with it’s teeth as hard as it could on the red creatures tail. It let out a loud noise Ginny had never heard before but then scattered away, tearing it’s own tail away from Pygmy, leaving deep gashes. 

“Good job Pygmy!” Ginny praised and pet her little pup with love and affection. “You did so good!”

Pygmy yipped with pride and ran around in circles around her and Draco. Flufferius looked at them with what looked like regret. Had it felt bad that it hadn’t helped with the battle? Ginny walked over and bent down to pet it’s head. “You did good too. You protected Draco for me. Thank you.”

It raised it’s head and trilled lovingly. It was amazing how much these creatures understood and felt the same types of emotions that a human might feel. Ginny stood up and looked over to see a chest a few feet away. She pulled out a key. ‘Always worth a shot, right?’ She thought as she stuck the key in and the lid popped open. She saw inside a couple of shrimp which the pets saw and started making their “hunger noises”. She grinned and threw one to Pygmy who jumped up and caught it in delight and Flufferius who allowed his to hit the ground but then leaned down and pecked at it until it was nothing but a few scraps of fishy flesh. Ginny gagged at the sight which made Draco laugh. “Squeemish Gin?” He asked. “Or is fish not your type.” 

“Not their flesh.” She finally answered and looked down the bridge where she saw a young man in a dark purple cloak walking towards them. “Excuse me. I’m really hungry. Could you find me something to eat?” Ginny raised an eye. 

“How are we supposed to do that?” She asked. He looked around and then pointed to a blue creature that looked like the red one Flufferius had bitten just minutes ago. “An underwater cackney. I hear those are good to eat.” He said. She nodded. Well, at least she knew what those creatures were now. She looked at Flufferius who looked poised, ready to attack with mud as he had before. She shook her head. “No, bite it like you did the other one, but hold on!” She commanded. Flufferius raised a paw and sidestepped the mud to do so, grabbing onto it’s fin while it thrashed and fought, trying to attack. Luckily with where it was being held, there was not enough leverage to attack. The man waited while the fish-creature seemed to wear itself out before walking over and taking it in his hands. “This will cook well over a fire.” He then walked the direction from which he had come and Ginny and Draco and their pets were left to their own devices once more. 

Ginny noticed a small pile of bp on top of the bridge ledge and walked over to grab it. “Well, finders keepers.” She said. It had become her new catch phrase for the money people had either dropped or possibly even left on purpose, although why they would do that was the confusing part to her. Having grown up in a family that barely had any money, she wondered what it would be like to have enough money lying around that you could literally forget some or even just drop it, “Eh, because…” She found herself dreaming of that type of wealth and then realization hit her. 

“Draco… you’re rich.”

Draco, who looked caught off guard raised a brow. “Umm, yeah. My bank account has been full pretty much since the day I was born with gold my parents planned for me to make my life with. Plus, whenever my father passes away, I’ll have even more. I’m not sure if that’s something I want or not, but it’s a thought, I suppose. Why is that a thing right now? Are you questioning marrying me?”

Ginny felt her mouth drop. She hadn’t even considered that. She wasn’t going to leave Draco, but they needed to discuss what could be done with money when they got back home. While she couldn’t imagine just leaving Galleons lying around, there was a certain feeling of power to being able to give money to people who may need it. “Have you ever considered donating portions of it to people who might need it? Maybe muggleborns who have trouble affording school. I’ve never been rich Draco. I never thought that was a thing on the horizon until you asked me to marry you. Now, I just know that while we might be happy together and be rich, there’s many others who struggle like I have growing up.”

Draco breathed in a sigh of relief, obviously glad to hear she hadn’t called off their engagement. “Honestly Gin, if that would make you happy then I would give away all my money. I don’t need money to be happy. I want a wife and a family. I want happiness. I don’t want to be my parents, where richness is all they have! However…” He looked at her with a mischievous grin. “I don’t know if helping out muggleborns is exactly the cause we should be working on. You may be friends with Granger, but she shouldn’t be the only one on your mind. What about donating to a society who is working on curing the effects of cruciatus. I mean, bringing back purebloods like Neville’s parents would probably be a worthier goal.” Ginny felt her stomach seizing some. Did he really feel that way? Suddenly he smiled. “I’m joking Gin, although I could see helping them too! We can do both. I am not above helping Muggleborns like my parents are. Ginny…” Draco stopped and looked at her carefully. “Why do you ask though. I mean, money has never been a big thing for you. Your parents almost seem proud to be able to live on nothing and I kind of admire that, but surely there are things you want. I want to be able to spoil you as my wife. You… you’d let me, right?”

Ginny was surprised by his question and decided to answer in a way she hoped would make him feel a little better. “Of course I’d let you spoil me and possibly any kids we might have. It’s more that, I don’t know how long we have with the war about to start. Harry is always talking about how he’s scared. Ron is getting these nervous habits. Hermione just sticks her nose in her books and forgets the world. I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want to ignore the world. I want to fight for it. Bring peace to it. I guess… finding these coins laying around reminded me that this world isn’t exactly a falsity to me anymore. Not since last night. I may never have to wonder if the weather is going to destroy our crops and leave us struggling for food again. I may not have to struggle to buy school supplies or work supplies. If I marry you… things change for me. And not in a bad way! Not at all! But in a way I had never imagined a week and a half ago. When you and I were basically enemies…”

“You know that I never saw you as my enemy Ginevra. Right?” Draco looked nearly offended. “Maybe I made a point to ignore you because if I hadn’t your brother would never let me live it down.”

Ginny laughed a bit. “Truuuue.” 

He sighed and put his head back against the wood of the bridge. “What will I have to go through to prove to your family that I am worthy of you?” Draco asked and by the way he looked, Ginny could tell he was actually worried. Nervous. About what though? Her family definitely couldn’t argue that he wasn’t good enough. He would take care of her. And when they saw how much he loved her, that would be enough. “You don’t have to do anything but be yourself Draco. Be the guy I got to know here. Sensitive. Kind. Loving. Make them fall in love with you the way you made me fall in love with you. You didn’t force anything. You just let yourself be you and that was enough. You helped me to be comfortable even at times when it would make you uncomfortable. You cared, even when you didn’t have to. Be that guy and they will understand.”

“I am nervous.” Draco said and looked away.

“About what?” Ginny asked, but knew she’d regret it as soon as she did. “When I announce to them that I am going to be marrying you, I will lose all support from the Slytherins. I am going to become an outcast. A pariah.” He stood up and walked over to her and grabbed her around the waist. “That doesn’t matter to me though. I want you. I love you. I have for a long time Gin. So please don’t think I am questioning what I asked you last night. I haven’t and I won’t.” He kissed her deeply, keeping her from responding. Before she knew it he had lifted her up in his arms and had her holding his waist with her legs. He ran his hands down the length of her back and was sighing and laying his head on her chest. “I love you Ginevra Weasley. And as soon as we get home I WILL announce that you will be my wife.”

 

Ginny nodded against him and then said, “Is that because you want people to know or because you want to lay claim to me so others can’t steal me away?”

“Obviously the latter.” Draco said and winked as he pulled her away and set her right on her feet. “No Ginny, what I want is for people to understand that Draco Malfoy is in love and that he does have a heart. I am not some cold, cruel person despite the rumors around the school. I don’t just use people. But when your brother gets word that I have asked you to be my wife, he is going to ask questions. I’ve been cruel to him and his friends. I’ve been cruel to you. I expect you’ll have a lot of fighting to do to make people understand that I do have a heart.”

Ginny frowned. “I hadn’t really thought of it that way.” She admitted. He bit his lip. “Did you want to take it back?” He asked her, lowering his eyes in what looked like shame. 

“No!” Ginny said and grabbed him around the waist. ‘Draco Malfoy, you are the most hard-headed people I have ever met. You have a wicked mean streak sometimes especially when it comes to people who mess with you. But you are kind and loving and everything else you’ve said good about you. You’re someone I want to be with the rest of my life. Don’t take that away now.”

She could feel his breath release in relief. “I won’t.” He promised. He suddenly saw something that made him cringe. “And don’t you take it back either.” He said. She frowned and wondered why he said it that way when she turned and was met face to face with a certain blonde witch.

“Oh Ginevra!” Rowan said with a slightly excited tone that did not match with her posture. She was looking Draco up and down and could obviously see that the two had gotten closer the last few days. “Draco.” She said, a slightly less enthusiastic tone. “It is so lovely to see you both. I had wondered how the two of you would fare when we parted on your way to the fissures. I see you both still have your pets.” She said and walked over to Flufferius amd Pygmy, patting their heads softly and ignoring the two humans standing next to her. “Are you two the travelers looking to make your way home? I thought we had discussed that it wasn’t a real possibility to help you since we don’t know how you got here?” Her usual cheerful tone was suddenly flat as she looked at them once more. “Not that I don’t think you should get home, I definitely do!”

To be rid of them? That was all Ginny could guess. “Well Rowan, we’re actually waiting on the council to get together to discuss the option of putting your magical expertises together to help us go home.”

Rowan placed a hand on her chin in thought. “I suppose that is one way to go about it. I mean, if there weren’t such powerful beings in Ay, I would say no way, but that definitely is not the case. The members of the council are some busy people but they have been asked to come meet up and that is why I am on the way to the town. I am a member of the Ay Council. They were waiting on me to figure out if we could meet. I was just on my way to tell Pablo to call the others. I suppose it’s only fitting you should come with in case we can come up with something.”

Ginny nodded. As much as she didn’t like Rowan, she loved the way she was right now. Curt. Almost to a fault because she was jealous of her. Hm, maybe that only made her feel good because she did dislike Rowan. Ginny picked up her orb out of her bag and opened it, Pygmy disappearing and set the orb in her bag. She wouldn’t be slowed down by Pygmy’s curiosity. Draco must have had the same idea because he also opened his, allowing his loving bird to disappear into the orb. This was a time to be serious. If Rowan was right, they may definitely head home tonight IF the council could figure out how to send her home.

Rowan held out an arm. “After you two.” She said and watched them with mild menace as Draco placed an arm on Ginny’s back and led her away. Ginny had been curious if Rowan had a crush on Draco and the answer at this point was clear. She did or she does, but Draco had obviously made his choice. And Rowan couldn’t do nothing but watch the two. She walked in silence on the way back. Less than 20 minutes later they arrived at a building behind the visitor’s center that looked closed off. It had no doors she could see but as they made their way around the building Rowan stopped and knocked at some wood. It seemed to almost melt away instantly. Ginevra’s eyes raised in wonder as they stepped in through the hole. They were not alone here. Claude and Collette were sitting in chairs near a bookshelf in deep discussion. Pablo was playing a game with Naoki on the computer. Only Draco and Ginny were out of place. Pablo looked up and saw who had joined them.

“Draco, Ginny… we’re just waiting on… OH!” He noticed Rowan beside them. “Let me get everyone else together and we can begin this council meeting! He walked off and returned not too long later. “I have sent messages and should hear back rather shortly. Most of the council members were on the way or already here.”

Ginny walked over to Collette and smiled. “You’re on the council?”

Collette nodded and noticed the top Ginny was wearing with a smile. “Of course. We have a dozen or so members which hopefully can provide enough magic for what you need. I convinced Claude to come as well. He doesn’t usually join us in an official council capacity but he’s my friend and also because it feels like he helped to make sure you guys were together. I see your ring.” She said grabbing Ginny’s hand in earnest. “It’s lovely. I am a little surprised your date led to marriage though.”

“W-we’re just engaged.”Ginny muttered, slightly embarrassed. Colette shook her head. “No, by accepting this ring and wearing it you were married in the eyes of those here in Ay. Maybe when you go home you can call it an engagement, but those here will never see if as anything less. And if you saw it as anything less, you wouldn’t have been able to put the ring on. There is a strong charm that only allows those who truly wish to be married to put on the ring. It’s a commitment for life that you’ve already accepted.”

Ginny could feel her face flush at the statement, but didn’t argue. When she had said yes, she had without a doubt meant that they would be married, probably within the year if she had her way. She didn’t want to lose any time with Draco, no matter what any of her friends or family thought. She’d made her mind up. So for Collette to say that the ring meant that she had basically already married him, it was quite accurate. She’d accepted that there was no other guys for her. Not even Harry Potter, the man she once thought she wanted to marry. She was glad to have finally decided on that fact. She truly did want Draco. “I-I guess in a way I have. He’s an amazing man” She said, but he didn’t need defending here. Soon he would. She didn’t relish that idea in the least! She saw other people starting to make their way into the room. There was nearly a dozen people there now and Draco walked over. “A man named Tech has said we must go into the next room so they can talk.” She looked up and saw the young boy with blue hair who nodded over to her with a smile.

Draco led her by the waist to the next room over which was deep gray in color and had just a single blue couch sitting there. It was a very empty room and she frowned. “This doesn’t feel right.” She muttered, but he put a finger to her lips. “I am going to listen in.” He said and leaned his ear to the door.

“...should we?” A female voice said.

“They need to... “ Ginny never heard the ending of the sentence but could hear murmurs of agreement. 

“What if they don’t…” Ginny frowned. It was hard to hear the words clearly through the door and so she gave up and went back to the couch to sit. After a few minutes Draco stood up and walked over. “It sounds like they are trying something.” He said. “But how will we know if it works?”

She closed her eyes and lay her head on the back of the couch. Suddenly she remembered something about the Quidditch match. Falling. Her head aching in pain she opened her eyes to tell Draco, but she didn’t see Draco. She didn’t see anything but the ceiling of… the hospital wing? She sat up quickly and a sharp pain went through her head. 

“Draco?” She looked around and saw other curtains closed and frowned. Suddenly Ron appeared at her side, his face red, tears in his eyes. He grabbed her in a hug. “Oh my gods, Ginny!” He said and put his head on her shoulder to hide the tears. “I’msogladyouareok.” His words were muffled but she was pretty sure he said ‘I’m so glad you’re ok.’ She gasped because her head was beginning to hurt badly and she still didn’t know what was going on. And where was Draco? 

“Where’s Draco?” She asked. 

He looked at her with confusion and pointed to a closed curtain. “I told them to shove the bloody fuck into a corner so he couldn’t hurt you anymore when he awoke. You both fell out on the Quidditch field. I didn’t even notice he’d fallen because I’d gone after you but you’d already hit your head on the stands. I’m so sorry Gin!”

Ginny frowned and closed her eyes because of the pain in her head. Pomfrey made her way out and looked over Ginny with a scope of some sort and then handed her some liquid. “A pain medicine. You’re on the mend, but that head injury did throw your body into attack and adrenaline took over causing you to go into a coma. Unlike Mr. Malfoy. We’re still unsure why he passed out.” 

Ginny removed the blanket over herself and made to get up, but Ron stopped her. “Hey, I know it’s his fault and we’ll get him back but right now is not the time.” He hissed. Ginny raised a brow. “I don’t want to get back at Draco. I want to check on him!” Ginny said, her voice loud enough for Pomfrey to hear unlike Ron’s. She removed his hand from her shoulder and stood up, walking over to the corner Ron and pointed to and opened the curtain. “Draco?” She said and looked down at his thin, fragile body. He looked like hell. His face was too shallow. She walked over and put a hand on his cheek, the same hand her engagement ring had been on, but was now gone. “Draco.” She could feel the panic rising in her voice as she leaned over. “Please wake up Draco! I need you here!” 

Ron’s face looked as if he was about to puke. “Ginevra! It’s his fault you fell.”

Ginevra. The name coming out of his mouth was condescending. Mean. Unlike what Draco’s had sounded like as he said it. Or had he? Was it all a dream? All in her head? She could feel her legs wabbling. No! It couldn’t have all been a dream! But Draco wasn’t waking up! She rubbed his cheek and leaned down to his ear, whispering. “I’m here love. I am right here beside you. Please wake up. Please tell me I am not alone in this.”

She looked for any signs that he might have heard her, but gave none. She could feel her panic rising and she closed her eyes and let a tear fall. “No, Draco. Please wake up. I love you!” She didn’t care at this point who heard. If she could wake him, that would be enough. Enough for a lifetime. She hoped he would respond in kind, but he still did not move. She could feel herself breaking down and she collapsed onto his chest, holding him for dear life as Madam Pomfrey and Ron went forward, each taking an arm to lift her off, but she wouldn’t budge. She wasn’t about to be taken away. Not now. Not after everything her and Draco had gone through together. 

She screamed, “No!” and fought away from them. She kissed Draco fully before they pulled her away once more. But suddenly Draco’s eyes fluttered open. “Ginny?” He said, same as she had done, saying his name as soon as she had awoken. He saw her struggling with Ron and Pomfrey, the latter of which almost Dropped Ginny in response to hearing Draco. He sat up and put his legs over the edge of the cot. “Let her go!” He screamed but the two continued their pursuit of trying to drag Ginny back to bed. “Let my fiance go!” He screamed and at this Ron did let go of his sister. 

“Your WHAT?!” Ron suddenly was back over to the cot, smashing a fist into Draco’s face. “Don’t you fucking lie to me, you dirty ferret. My sister would never marry you!” 

Pomfrey had let go in order to stop Ron and held him back. Ginny took that chance to run over to Draco and kiss him, holding him for dear life. “So it wasn’t all a dream?” She asked, slightly relieved but also completely confused. 

“I-I don’t think so.” Draco said, but she could tell by his face he wasn’t sure at all by what they had gone through. He held her close and she ran a hand over the now-forming purple mark that Ron had placed there. Both Ron and Pomfrey had stopped struggling and watched the two, Ron with disgust and Pomfrey with a curious glare. She didn’t trust Malfoy, BUT Ginny had been the one to go forward. She had been the one to kiss Malfoy. Had she sealed their bond? If they had kissed before this, it might explain what had happened between the two. As she was putting two and two together, she could feel her breath hitching. It was possible the two had a soul bond, a strong one that if either of the two made any sort of progress towards a real relationship would mean that what happened to the one would happen to the other. Such as Ginny falling into a coma meant that Draco would too And if either died… Pomfrey shivered. She’d heard of soul bonds before, but it was more of a curiosity thing than anything else. They were a myth, not based on any fact that she knew of. But here in front of her stood two shining examples. She needed to talk to Dumbledore.

Ginny was still holding Draco when Ron stepped forward. “Gettof my Sister Malfoy!” He said and while he looked that he may punch again, he held off because of Ginny being in the way. “Ron…” She said and he looked at her carefully. “Please, please don’t hurt my fiance. He’s been through enough with you guys. He’s a good guy. You need to get to know him… the real him.”

“Real him, my ass.” Ron growled and shook his head. “Ginevra, get off of Malfoy right now. He’s fooled you somehow. He’s…”

“Completely in love with your sister, Ronald. I know we don’t have a great history but you must know me well enough to know I wouldn’t mess with her this way.” He rubbed circles in her back as he spoke over her shoulder. “We went through… something… together. It brought us closer. I’ve always had an attraction to your sister. She’s one of the most badass chicks I know. But she’s also kind and caring and loving and…”

“Kill me now.” Ron growled in semi-defeat. “You don’t do mushy well Malfoy. You can’t honestly expect me to believe that my sister could fall for someone like you.”

Ginny turned around and looked her brother in the eye. “I do love Draco. With all of my heart Ronald. He’s got a kindness in him that I never knew before. However not just that but he’s completely caring in tough situations. I don’t know how to explain to you how much he’s taken care of me…” She turned back and looked at Draco who shook his head. He knew better than to believe Ron would ever believe or accept anything that had happened to them in Ay. “I see him differently now. And the other day he asked me to marry him. I said yes! I didn’t think I could tell you…” She made it sound as if it had been while they were still here despite everything. Maybe someday she’d tell her friends of Ay, but for today… she just needed to convince them that this was ok. “I find myself questioning if it’s ok. But I know that I cannot deny my feelings for Draco. I will be married to Draco if it’s the last thing I do.” Ginny said with a finality that even Draco didn’t expect. He kissed her softly on the neck, watching how Ron reacted.

Ron was too dumbfounded. Pomfrey however was more concerned with the fact that if Ginny truly was soulbonded to Draco, what she would do to make sure that happened. Including losing friends and possibly turning on the light side. A soul bond was a tricky thing. She kept her mouth closed though and watched the two carefully. Draco was holding Ginevra possessively in a way she expected a Malfoy would and Ginny looked completely at peace. This had to be a soul bond. 

Ron shook his head and stormed out. “Well…” Draco frowned. “That could have gone better.”

Ginny nodded. She crawled onto Draco’s cot as if settling for the night and Pomfrey finally cut in. “You two are NOT sleeping together.” She said adamantly. The two looked like they might argue but the look in her eyes was not one to be messed with. “Ginevra, come back to bed. You have a head injury that I still need to assess fully and Malfoy, lay back down. I will come back and check on you shortly.” As they were leaving his cubed area, Pomfrey closed the curtain and while Ginny started to protest, her look said, “Do not mess with me.” Ginny shut her mouth before she even started. She allowed Pomfrey to lead her back to bed. 

Madam Pomfrey pulled out some tools and her wand and ran her wand across Ginny’s torso and up over her head. There was a faint gold glow as she went over the head that puzzled Ginny but seemed to give Pomfrey the answers she needed. She quickly pulled out a salve from the table near her and rubbed it across Ginny’s forehead. “You’re going to feel sleepy. When you wake up tomorrow, your head should feel much better.” 

“And then I can leave?” Ginny asked.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. “Then you may leave. I will warn you though Ginerva to be careful. Malfoy probably has the best interest at heart but make sure you change him and not the other way around.”

Ginny nodded mutely, confused. Did Pomfrey think that she was changing? She’d barely seen her all year. How would she know? Also, what did she fear happening. As these thoughts went through Ginny’s mind, she drifted off to sleep.

Draco on the other hand was wide awake and heard Pomfrey making her way over. She did a similar motion to him with her wand over him and frowned. “There is nothing wrong with you Malfoy. No bumps or bruises aside from what Ronald did. Can you explain to me what happened?”

He paused. What was she expecting? A story? Or did she mean from before. “Ginny and I were reaching for the snitch last I knew. I think something happened because Ginny fell. I was about to scream but didn’t have the time, because before I knew it I had blacked out.”

“Before that though…” Pomfrey asked, a slight urgency. “You guys were fighting all the time. Not once have I ever heard of you guys being close. And now engaged?”

“I…” How much could he trust her? He decided he needed to tell someone something. “She kissed my cheek after I complimented her at the match that day. It was a simple gesture, but a much wanted one. I liked her before that but I didn’t let anyone know because I’m supposed to hate her family.”

“But you didn’t?”

“No. My father does because they are ‘a disgrace to our kind’ his words, not mine. And I suppose I want his approval so I sometimes pick on the Weasleys, but I actually kind of… respect them. Hell, I’ve fallen for one of them, so I suppose it’s more than respect in a way.” 

Madam Pomfrey nodded. She’d gotten the answer she needed. The kiss on the cheek had completed the soul bond. Before that the relationship had been purely one sided. Once Ginny returned any sort of affection, it had begun a downward spiral that could only lead to one thing. Marriage. A perfect marriage where they would never doubt if the other one loved them because they would be able to feel the love and affection. A marriage without the struggle of doubt or worry of commitment. Once they completed the bond by making love, their souls would be one forever. At least, that’s how most myths went anyways. Could it be accurate? She looked into Draco’s eyes as he looked over at the curtain she’d put over Ginny’s cubicle. He was pretty attached to her already despite their limited time together. “Did… did something happen after?” She asked. I mean, what could happen between them while in a coma? 

“I had a dream with Ginny in it. We… travelled and got to know each other more. I don’t know why a dream would combine, but she kissed me and called me her fiance too. So I know she remembers. It happened to us both…” 

Pomfrey nodded and realized that she needed to talk to Dumbledore tonight before the two awoke again, which meant she needed to make sure Draco slept. She pulled out a vial and handed it to him. “Drink this. It’s dreamless sleep potion. It will make sure you get the rest you need before tomorrow. Trust me in this Malfoy?” She asked, noting his questioning look. He nodded hesitantly and then took the vial, drinking it down. Before he knew it he had drifted off.


	10. The World Resolves around you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Ginny's friends find out about her relationship that seemed to come out of nowhere. And what happened at the Hufflepuff/Gryffindor game with Ginny not being around?

When Ginny awoke the next morning she saw a pile of gifts and candies that she hadn’t even noticed the night before. She sat up and while her head felt heavy, it no longer felt like it was going to rip itself apart. She picked up a package and opened it to find a scarf her mother had apparently knit in the past week for her probably while she was worrying herself sick about her daughter. Pomfrey still had the lock on the door to the infirmary at which someone started knocking not two minutes later. Pomfrey walked out in her night gown, which was a short, slightly frilly pink nighty that Ginny had never seen before. It was obvious that she had either fallen asleep very recently based on the circles under her eyes or that she hadn’t slept well. She opened the door and sighed when she saw who it was. “Ginevra, your friends are here.” 

Ginny smiled and saw Neville, Luna, Harry, Hermione and Ron all piled into the room and surrounded her, each giving her a hug. Ron waited til last and then kissed her forehead. “Feeling better little sis?”

“A bit.” Ginny said and she looked over to Draco’s cube which was still quiet so she assumed he was probably still asleep. “Did Ron talk to you guys?” She asked, seeing Harry and Luna and Neville turn to Ron, Hermione and Harry both nodded. Harry’s face looked full of disgust. “Did Draco put a jinx on you?” Harry asked. “Ron told me about your bet. Perhaps he decided they were going to win and he jinxed you early?”

“Whoa, whoa, what bet?” Luna asked and Neville listened because he also was curious. 

Ginny felt her face flame up. She’d forgotten all about the bet. As she thought over it she remembered how the day went. How she and Draco had been up high, probably unnoticed by her team as they chatted. Draco’s quirky demeanor that had gotten her to start crushing on him and she shook her head. There was no jinx. There was a sweet honest boy with too much on his plate and no way to let it out. And he’d confided in her about respecting her. How he’d made her happier than she’d been in a long time. That couldn’t have been fake, right? “Draco and I each offered to be the target for a “punishment” of whichever team lost. But no, Draco and I were talking before we saw the snitch. He didn’t jinx me. Even when I fell it was a complete accident.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked and looked over in the corner with disgust. “I wouldn’t put it past him to…”

“To what, hurt me and himself in the process? What sort of sense does that make?” Ginny could feel her voice raising. “You guys have to understand, Draco and I have been through a lot. Most of which I can’t even tell you about without you guys looking at me like you are right now. As if I have two heads. ALL you need to know is that Draco and I love each other. That’s it!”

Luna looked at Ginny with a smirk. “She has Huglesmucks in her head.”

“Huglesmucks?” Ginny asked, but slightly wished she didn’t. Luna was often known to come up with the most random stuff at the worst of times.

“You know… there are these little creatures called Huglesmucks who make the face flush, the thoughts race about one person, and the person smile with a goofy grin when they’re thinking about that one special person. My dad often says that is what people call ‘Love’, never giving the Huglesmucks their due.” She grinned slightly. “Sometimes they come out of nowhere, maybe hiding in a pillow or flying in your ear during Quidditch. Although I’ve never heard of them acting so quickly!” She said and tilted her head. “They really do affect you.”

“Ginny?” Ginny heard her name called from behind the curtain and as she turned her head Draco walked in and stopped shy because he saw her friends surrounding her. He backed away slightly, but Ginny beckoned him over and he sat down beside her. Her friends looked at her with a mixture of expressions from mild confusion to full-blown anger, but none of them said anything. He wrapped his arm around her waist and looked at them pleadingly. “Please. I love this girl with my whole heart. I know that I’ve been horrible to you in the past, but that isn’t me. Not really. I often take crap from my house or worse… my father if I let up on you guys. You don’t know how awful I feel…”

Harry’s mouth opened in awe and he closed it quickly. “You feel bad?”

“Terribly so.” Draco answered honestly. “I actually kind of admire you guys. How kind you are to one another. How you don’t pressure each other into anything. How you’ll stick up for each other through thick and thin. Hell, I wish I had friends like that…” He looked down, obviously thinking about his friendships in Slytherin. Ginny had seen his friends Crabbe and Goyle and Pansy surround him, but would they still if he wasn’t the same guy they knew before? “I know you guys don’t trust me, but you do trust Ginny. Can you please try to trust that she knows better in this. And to try to get to know me so you know I would never hurt her? She’s everything to me. That’s why I asked her to be my wife.”

Luna squeeled, Neville’s mouth opened and his eyes went wide. Hermione gasped and Harry’s face went hard. Ron looked just as against it as he had the night before. Suddenly they were all talking over themselves.

Hermione: “Ginny, what do you really think he’s doing. He can’t really love you. Have you met his father?”

Neville: “No, no, no. He’s the worst kind of pureblood. You really think I believe what you’re saying Malfoy?”

Luna: “Oh my gods! I want to help you wedding plan Ginny! You will look lovely in a wedding dress.”

Harry: “Ginny, what about us?”

Ginny tried to focus on them when she heard Harry. Her shook her head, trying to make sure she’d heard him right. “Us?” She said and looked at him with a look of confusion. “What us?” 

Harry’s face was suddenly red. “Well, what I mean is if you like Malfoy you’re basically giving up us, right? You can’t have both him and us, not with his past…”

“Harry James Potter.” Ginevra screamed. “You, more than anyone else, should know how rumors spread in this school and how they are sometimes false. Remember my first year, your second, when everyone was calling you the ‘Heir of Slytherin’? Did we turn our back on you then? Did that stop me from having a crush on you? No! But you know what did? You got into this idea of saving the goddamn world from itself. From Voldemort. And while I admire you, you have ignored the fact that I liked you for years. But you know what, I’m GLAD! I didn’t know then how good it felt to be loved for real, by someone real. Draco is real and you are a fucking moron. I think you should save the world, but do it without separating us based on houses and rumors!”

Harry’s eyes were wide. Ginny had never been quite so harsh before but he understood it. He did judge Draco often because of his house and the way his friends teamed up on them. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then opened them once more, looking Draco in the eye. “You promise that you love her?” He asked, ignoring the glares from Neville and Hermione. Draco nodded, mutely, unsure what Harry was getting at. “You had best take care of her Malfoy because one step out of line, one bad word to her that sends her crying to us and I cannot promise what we will do to you. She is like a little sister to me and I do not plan to see her hurt by some guy.”

Ginny’s mouth opened wide. Did Harry just give his blessing? She jumped up and hugged him. “Thank you Harrry!”

Hermione, who still looked angry had deflated some and Neville just watched with concern. Ron stepped forward. “I second what Harry said. But I will add, even if she doesn’t see what you are doing if you start manipulating her doesn’t mean we won’t. We will be watching you like a goddamn hawk. You hurt her and you will never hear the end of it. Remember how big our family is Malfoy, blood and not.”

Ginny frowned, but appreciated the sentiment. He leaned forward and hugged his little sister close. He whispered. “You tell anyone I said this and I’ll end you little sis, but I don’t think our threats will take affect. He looks at you like you are a Queen.”

She grinned and whispered back, “He treats me like one too.”

He rolled his eyes and pushed her away. He looked at Draco. “So where is the ring?”

“I-uh…” He frowned, remembering the ring in Ay, but if it was all in their heads… “I’m having it custom made.” He finally said. “I want it to be perfect, but I was too excited to wait to ask her.” His mind ran through all the shops he could custom order through and settled on three he would check out to make sure they could make it exactly like their engagement ring in Ay. He’d pay all three if he had to to make sure he got a perfect match. Ginny had fallen in love with that ring. He stepped towards the door, where Pomfrey was looking out as though waiting for someone. “May I leave?” He asked and she looked at him with a frown but finally nodded. “You may. As long as you tell me you slept ok.”

Draco nodded. “Slept like a log.” He said and rushed past her. Ginny watched him leave and felt a tug on her heart. She didn’t want him to leave. She missed him already. But she could tell he had something on his mind. She also knew that having her friends here was probably hard because she had yet to see any of his friends and he hadn’t even been left any gifts. She turned to her friends. “Did Draco’s friends come up here to visit him at all?”

Ron tilted his head and thought about it. “I think a couple times over the first couple of days to see if he was alright, but mostly they were contently in their dorms waiting to find out the result of the Quidditch match. If Gryffindor lost then they’d be going against Hufflepuff for the House cup.”

“Oh, the match!” Ginny frowned. “What happened?” 

 

“We had to have one of your backups come into play for you and the match went pretty well until the Hufflepuff’s seeker caught wind of the tension surrounding Gryffindors with you not around. They made an offhanded comment that I don’t think was meant to hurt but got us thinking about your absence and well… the Hufflepuff seeker caught the snitch.”

“No!” Ginny felt her face flush with agonizing defeat. Yes, she still had next year to help the Gryffindors win the Quidditch cup, but their hopes were dashed for this year. They still had to play in a semi-final of sorts, but no matter the outcome, Hufflepuff would rank above them and Slytherin above Ravenclaw. The Quidditch cup would likely go to Slytherins this year, much to her dismay. Even if she loved one of them, that didn’t mean she loved the whole house! Neville placed a hand on her back, soothingly rubbing to help release the tension from this news. “I’m sorry Gin.” He said sadly. “Unfortunately it happens. I can’t say it wouldn’t have happened without you getting knocked out. The Hufflepuffs have been playing hard this year. If you had been here they may have made some other comment and had the same luck they did this time.”

Ginny frowned. “Yeah, but we don’t know that.”

Harry sat down next to Ginny. “You will just have to be strong Ginny. You have one more year here and a lot more passion for Quidditch than I do. It’s possible you will be able to be captain for the year and lead the team to victory.”

“Me? Captain?” 

“I’ve already made the call. Most people are pretty pleased with the idea. Although you’ll have a pretty fresh team next year. Better pick the best ones for it.” Harry grinned and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m just glad you’re ok. It was hell seeing you unconscious the last week and a half.” 

Ginny looked down. She still felt like she had let her team down. She felt weak and lay back on the bed, forcing Harry to move. They couldn’t comfort away the fact that she had left her people down. “Can I- can I please have some time alone to process that?” She asked and curled up with her pillow. Harry and Ron and Neville nodded. Hermione rubbed her shoulder soothingly and nodded as well. Luna bit her lip, obviously not wanting to leave her friend alone but decided to because it looked like Ginny was about to cry and she was no good with tears. As soon as they left Pomfrey came over to check on her. “Depression is a bitch of a witch.” She said, causing Ginny to look up. She’d never heard Pomfrey swear in her life. She looked Ginny in the eye. “As someone who has suffered from depression for the last 30 years of my life, I know what the beginning of it looks like. You get down on yourself for the little things and you turn the blame to yourself. What your friends told you is NOT your fault. You just need to find the strength to move on and only look at the good things. Didn’t I hear that Harry said you were going to be captain next year? Not only that, but if you are serious about Draco Malfoy…”

“I am.” Ginny said adamantly. 

“Then you can also look forward to the wedding. Now, I am not saying it’s going to be easy, but Draco will be there to pull you through.” She tilted her head. “Listen, Ginevra. No matter what happens you can always look to us to help you through. Dumbledore and I and Minerva will always have the backs of our students. If there is anything you need, just tell us.”

“It’s not like you can turn back time…”

“Would you really want me to?” Pomfrey asked seriously. “If I were to turn back time to a week and a half ago, what would have happened? One of you would have won that game and the loser would have suffered some punishment. Is that what you want? From what I hear, if this hadn’t happened you and Draco probably wouldn’t be together…”

“Well, that’s true…” Ginny felt her heart drop in her chest. Would she turn back time. No. But she did still feel bad about her team losing. She heard a cough from the door that only one Albus Dumbledore could have made. “Am I interrupting something?” He asked, watching their faces for any sign that he was. 

“Ms. Weasley is just a bit disheartened about hearing of her teams loss without her.”

“Ah, yes, yes.” Dumbledore smoothed his beard as he watched them. “I did as well miss seeing Miss Weasley among the rest of them. The Hufflepuffs actually called for a rematch.”

Ginny’s eyes widened. “Really?” 

“Yes. It would seem the Hufflepuff captain felt some remarks were made in poor taste and he wanted to give you a chance to defend your honor. Tonight. If you are up for it Ms. Weasley?” Ginny looked at Madam Pomfrey. “Would that be ok?”

Madam Pomfrey nodded. “You are back to near perfect health Ginerva. You may have a heavy head from some of the meds I gave you, but that should clear within the next few hours.” Ginny smiled and nodded. “Thank you Dumbledore!” She stood up but before she could grab her stuff and leave Dumbledore’s face went serious. “There is one more thing we need to discuss. You and Malfoy seem awfully close.”

 

Oh great, another critic. Ginny nodded, mutely, preparing any defenses she could think of. He continued. “We think we know why.” She gaped. “What?” 

“Mr. Malfoy admitted to having feelings for you prior to the faux-match last week, yes?” Ginny nodded. “Well, there is a thing, called a soul bond that is pretty rare. It doesn’t take effect unless both people to whom which the bond is attached is open to ‘more’. From what I hear you kissed his cheek, opening yourself to the idea that there could be friendship if not more. This allowed the bond to grab hold of both of you in a way that no one could have ever predicted. Whenever something happens to someone with a bond. Such as one of them is hurt or worse, the other feels it as well. When Draco Malfoy got punched by your brother the other day, you felt as if your head was hurting, but it was because of the bond, not the concussion. He had the same effect when you fell and hit your head. You both connected in a way neither of us have seen. So much so that you are even able to have dreams in which the other are involved physically. Pomfrey tells me that the entire time you were unconscious Malfoy was with you in a dream world of sorts and that you both remember it?” Ginny nodded. “The only reason the two of you did not combine in dreams again is because Madam Pomfrey gave him a dreamless sleep potion. If she hadn’t, you both would have had an active mind all night long, not actually getting any sleep, despite your body looking to be at rest. What this means, however is that you both must take the potion every night from now on.”

Ginny frowned. “But if we can be with each other while awake and asleep, what’s the harm?”

“The harm is, if your mind never turns off and allows it the rest you need, you will begin to hallucinate. You will no longer have full function in the woken world and you may lose the ability to eat and drink, both of which are needed to keep you alive.”

Ginny frowned. If this was a soul bond, why was it as dangerous as they made it sound? Wouldn’t the mind want to give them the rest they needed so that they wouldn’t lose one another? She could see them watching her, waiting for her to speak. “What happens if… one of us dies?” She asked, because if they could feel each other’s pain, what would they feel if the other passed away? Dumbledore looked down sadly, “Then the bonded soul would die. It is not a good circumstance. Now, while we are not against you two being together, we want to make sure you both take it safely. Wait before… getting intimate.” 

Ginny could feel her face flush, remembering Draco above her in her… ‘dream’ and she avoided eye contact. “We WILL be married.” She said adamantly. There was not going to be stopping her now that she’d experienced real love and she planned to for the rest of her life. Dumbledore coughed, causing her to look up. “You can be married. It’s not to be stopped now. It’s just that we don’t want to see you in pain. Once two souls have been bonded, they become dependant on one another. Leaving each other becomes harder and being apart becomes painful.” Ginny frowned, feeling the pain in her chest as if a part of her was ripped away. Could that be what this was? Was being intimate in the dream enough? “And while that shouldn’t be an issue while you both are married, going to school and fighting in a war would be… impossible.”

Ginny suddenly understood what Dumbledore was saying. He wanted her to help him fight in the war and he assumed Draco would take the other side. She felt her anger rising. “I am not some pawn Dumbledore. Don’t expect me to be like Harry and take it lying down. No matter what happens, Draco will take care of me.” She grabbed her pile of things and stood up. “Thank you for worrying about me, but Draco and I will be fine!” 

She stormed out and both Pomfrey and Dumbledore looked at each other. Pomfrey spoke, “Did it seem like…”

Dumbledore nodded sadly. “Apparently they got A LOT closer in that dream world of theirs. She looked like she was in pain the entire time despite having your meds in her. She’s probably completely his. There is nothing we can do.”  
Ginny stormed downstairs and towards her dorms when she was stopped. “Ginny?” Draco said, looking at her with concern. “Are you ok?” 

Ginny looked at him and her heart felt at peace once more. “I am fine.” She said. “They said… they said we had a soul bond.” 

 

“A soul bond huh?” Draco frowned. “That actually would explain a lot.”

“You’ve heard of it before?”

“In passing.”

“So what do we do now?”

“What do we do?” Draco looked at her curiously. “We can’t fight it. Nor would I want to. I love you Ginevra. I still want you as my wife. However that is going to make it difficult for you this next year. We’re going to have to plan carefully to meet every day so that our bodies do not feel as if we’ve left one another. Among other things… But there is always a way to make things work.” 

Ginny nodded. Draco leaned over her stuff and kissed her. “Are you heading to your dorms?” He asked, eyeing all the stuff in her arms. She nodded. “Well, I have to go back to my dorms for a bit and talk to my housemates. There’s going to have to be a lot of changes for us to work together or… I’ll have to learn to ignore them. By the way, this is for you.” He said and stuck a box on top of her stack. “Open it tonight before you go to the Quidditch match.”

“You heard about that?”

“Apparently not only Hogwarts has heard of it but news has traveled to Hogsmeade. I heard about it on my way back.”

“You went to Hogsmeade!” Draco nodded. She laughed slightly insanely. “I felt like you were gone and I was right.” She felt tears in her eyes. Draco frowned and wiped her eyes. “It’s ok. That’s just getting used to the soul bond. We hadn’t been any further than 20 feet apart for days. Our bodies got too used to it. That will change a little over time. You’ll always miss me when I leave, but it will normalize more.” Ginny nodded and was kind of glad to hear it wasn’t a permanent thing.

“By the way… “Draco started. “After the Quidditch match you wanna meet me in the North Observation tower?” 

Ginny nodded. “I can do that. I better go put these upstairs. I’ll see you later love.”

“I love you Ginevra.”

“I love you too Draco.”

When she got up to her dorm, she set the stuff down and grabbed the box that Draco had set on her stack. She opened it and nearly welled up in tears. Her engagement ring was inside, exactly as it had been in their dream. She quickly stuck it on her finger, realizing how wrong her hand felt without it and smiling. She would never take it off. Like in the Aywas world, it was just like she was married. After that she went through the rest of the stack, opening up cards and gifts of candy and stuffed animals. Her favorite of the rest of the stuff was a stuffed white dog that reminded her of Pygmy. Her heart ached for her little creature. But the best gift she got was definitely, without a doubt the ring. She wore it proudly when she walked out to the Quidditch pitch that night and her group of friends were not the only ones to notice the large diamond ring on her left hand as she walked out. “Holy shit.” Harry said and grabbed her hand. “It’s a real goddamn ring. That son of a bitch wasn’t lying.”

Ginny laughed. “No Harry, he wasn’t. Now, can we play?”

This match went a lot smoother than the one with Draco since she was playing her normal position. She did, however, keep looking at the stands to see her fiance being the biggest supporter of them all! She grinned madly and threw a Quaffle right into the right pitch, more points for Gryffindor. Before she knew it, Harry had gotten the Snitch and Gryffindor was the winners. The only people booing were the Slytherins. They now had real competition. Ginny did a victory lap with Harry around the stands and ended it by landing next to Draco. “Looks like we’ll be facing off again.”

“Wanna bet on it?”

“Eh, probably not.” Ginny said with a small laugh. 

Later that night after her friends had gone to bed and she’d been able to change and shower, she made her way up to the Observation tower where she found Draco dressed in a handsome set of grey dress robes that matched his eyes. He looked at her and smiled, pulling her close for a kiss. “I hope you don’t mind, I bought you something to wear.” He handed her a box from a dress robe store that had very expensive taste. She opened the box to see a dark purple dress robe that highly resembled the outfit they wore on their first date. “I have a private dinner set up for us elsewhere, but I figured we could dress up the same as we did, that night…” The way he said it, she knew exactly what he was talking about and she was not opposed. She nodded and walked over to a corner behind a large pillar and changed into the dress robes which had the same type of slit the dress had included. She came out from behind the pillar and he whistled. “You look amazing Miss Weasley. I would love to dress you up like this for all of our dates.” 

She blushed, but loved the compliment and the man who made it. “If I can go with you anywhere, you can dress me as you wish.” She said, her breath airy. His breath hitched. “You mean it?”

She nodded. His smile grew bigger and he walked over and kissed her fully. “Let’s go have a date… I want to tell you of an idea I had and then I want to get you out of this dress…” Ginny bit her lip and nodded. “Lead the way…” 

Not much sleep was to be had that night, which was good because they had forgotten the sleepless dream potion anyways.


	11. An ending or a beginning?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened after the war?

12 years later nobody would have guessed where this couple would be. Ginny and Draco had moved to a rural part of England. They had an 11 year old daughter named Colette who smiled brightly at everything, living up to her name. She had beautiful strawberry blonde hair that curled ever so slightly. Draco often found himself surprised at his fortune. Nearly 11 years ago, the war had happened and Draco had moved Ginny away so she could not be injured. They hid among the muggles and during that time and it was during that time that Ginny became pregnant. They married not even a month later at a justice of the peace to keep the charade of waiting until marriage. Colette was one of the better things to come out of that time. During the war, Ginny lost her brother Fred and many of the teachers and mentors she knew including Professor Lupin and Moody whom she had loved learning from. She’d gone into a deep depression for a while that nothing Draco could do would pull her out of. So he laid with her, holding her close and letting her know she was never alone.

When she had her baby, she threw all of herself into the baby, not focussing on reality of the people around her. Even as Harry and Hermione got married and Ron to Luna, she barely talked to her friends anymore. Sometimes, Draco thought, they probably blame me for their falling out. After a while she finally started focussing again and Draco convinced her to bring back a passion of hers and join the English Quidditch team. She tried to say that she wasn’t good enough, but he convinced her to try. She got accepted without a doubt. That helped to raise a little bit of confidence. Draco become a stay at home dad. He loved spending time with his beautiful daughter, but she was becoming a lot like her smart aleck mother, a bit of a pain in the ass, Of course he’d heard that little girls especially could be trouble. 

A couple of months ago, Draco had “convinced” a couple of muggles to draw out the Ay that Ginny had grown to know and love. It was a hope that he could bring to life the art that his lovely wife had made. She’s always taken her art quite seriously and she had drawn the grounds they’d walked together and the pets they both knew and loved. In fact, he slept with a picture of the Reve, Flufferius in the nightstand next to his bed. Ay had become a home to them, a safe place. He wanted to bring that back once more. Back to where it started. These muggles put their own little spin on it and were about ready to set the website live. Draco didn’t want his name attached at all so he let them. In 2009 Aywas came into being. When he showed Ginny, she cried the happiest tears he had seen in a long time from her. Because when she went to the mountains the first pet she ran into was an Arctic Kitsune Melo, which she was able to catch and call her Pygmy.


End file.
